Shanghai Girls, Lisa See
Shanghai Girls, Lisa See
27 Rating(s)
List: $20.99 | Sale: $14.70
Club: $10.49

Shanghai Girls

Author: Lisa See

Narrator: Janet Song

Unabridged: 13 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/26/2009


Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD • Two Chinese sisters, sold as wives to American merchants, must adapt to a strange new country in this “powerful” (The Washington Post) historical novel from the acclaimed author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

“A gifted writer . . . explores the bonds of sisterhood while powerfully evoking the often nightmarish American immigrant experience.”—USA Today

In 1937 Shanghai—the Paris of Asia—twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree—until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that to repay his debts, he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from Los Angeles to find Chinese brides.

As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, from the Chinese countryside to the shores of America. Though inseparable best friends, the sisters also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. Along the way they make terrible sacrifices, face impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines hold fast to who they are—Shanghai girls.

About Lisa See

American author, Lisa See, was born in Paris, France, but spent many years in Los Angeles, primarily in the Chinatown District. Her mother, another novelist, wrote her autobiography which also includes interesting insights into her daughter's life. Lisa See graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a B.A. Degree in 1979.

See had various writing jobs such as a correspondent for Publisher's Weekly on the West Coast and has written articles for Self, Vogue, and More magazines. Lisa See is one-eighth Chinese, and she has done various noted projects concerning the Chinese American population. One such project was featured in the Smithsonian. See has also been an avid public speaker. Adding to her diversification, she also serves as a Los Angeles City Commissioner. See is a member of The Trusteeship, an organization whose members are "prominent women of achievement and influence in diverse fields".

Among her works are: Snowflower and the Secret Fan, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy, and China Dolls. "These books have been celebrated for their authentic, deeply researched, lyrical stories about Chinese characters and cultures". One newer book is about South Korean women of Jeju Island, called The Island of Sea Women. It was chosen as the March 2019 Barnes and Noble nationwide Book Club book to read.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Eileen on June 05, 2011

I'm re-rating this book up to 4 stars, but with the contingency that it must be read with Dreams of Joy. When read in conjunction with the second book, this book is excellent - really emotionally powerful. Without the second book, you'll be horribly disappointed with the the last 20 pages - and wish......more

Goodreads review by emma on May 06, 2021

This cover is so pretty and happy and wonderful, and then the contents are the darkest, most painful thing you have ever experienced in your life. Literally every bad thing that exists under the sun happens in this book. Death. Sexual assault. Devastating illness. War. Genocide. Betrayal. Deceit. Aba......more

Goodreads review by Magrat on August 29, 2020

Este libro para mi ha sido una montaña rusa, empecé odiando tanto a las protagonistas que me resultaba difícil disfrutar de la lectura, pero ha terminado atrapándome tanto que me muero por leer la secuela. La historia nos lleva al Shanghai de los años 30 (el París de Oriente), allí conocemos a Pearl......more

Goodreads review by Linda on August 08, 2011

This book was very disappointing. I went into it eager to learn about this point in history and this should have been a good book considering the premise of the story. I think it started out well and the family and events in China held my interest and seemed well-defined. Still, the tragedies never......more

Goodreads review by J.Elle on July 15, 2010

This was the third book I've read by this author and I'm still confused as to my feelings for her writing. The first book I read, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I loved. I think it was all the descriptions and information about the cultural nuances, including foot binding. Then, I was excited to re......more


Quotes

“See is a gifted writer, and in Shanghai Girls she again explores the bonds of sisterhood while powerfully evoking the often nightmarish American immigrant experience.”—USA Today

“A buoyant and lustrous paean to the bonds of sisterhood.”—Booklist

“A rich work . . . as compulsively readable as it is an enlightening journey.”—Denver Post

“The glamour of prewar Shanghai is recalled in Lisa See’s deftly plotted Shanghai Girls.”—Vogue

“Splendid.”—More

“An engrossing tale of two sisters.”—Time

“Shanghai Girls is one of those books I could not wait to continue reading, because her characters' stories are so compellingly told.”—St. Louis Dispatch

“As in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love, she has in her latest novel created ordinary women who, through willfulness and resiliency, accomplish extraordinary things. . . . See, whose writing is as graceful as these '’beautiful girls,'’ pulls off another exceptional novel.”—Miami Herald