alicejm 's review for:

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

4.5

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This is a gorgeous book that really transports you to its setting of 1400s China. See is an excellent author who does not shy away from the complex flaws in her characters. She is also a meticulous researcher, this book is very informative. Despite the main character being very insulated from the outside world as per the historically accurate setting, there are diverse characters in this novel. This book has many heartbreaks and intimately looks at the consequences of loss, but overall I came out feeling nourished and positive from reading it. All author promises were fully realised, so it is a satisfying read.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

foot binding and the trauma of this features heavily

the goodies win and the baddies lose