Don't Judge this Book by its Title!
When Stephanie let me borrow this book, I must admit that I wasn't all that thrilled to read it. However, since she was nice enough to lend it to me, the least I could do was read it.
I tore through it in two days. (That's fast for me. I have an infant to care for, and I have a very serious need for sleep for at least 10 hours, so you can see how this hinders my reading time.) Before I even began reading the story, I knew I was going to like it. The author introduces the reader to Nu-Shu before the novel begins. I was so glad to learn that little bit of nearly forgotten history, I think that may have put the book in a positive light for me from the start.
Even without having learned about Nu-Shu before reading the book, I still would have loved it. The story follows two young Chinese girls in the nineteenth century from age seven through the rest of their lives - through foot-binding, marriage, childbirth, etc. Lisa See does such a wonderful job telling the story of her characters, that seem very real. Which is probably why I couldn't put the book down. I felt like I was reading about real women's lives, and, just as importantly, I cared about them. I saw aspects of people I knew in nearly all the characters of the book - including myself.
Long story short -- the book was really good even though the title is stupid.
I tore through it in two days. (That's fast for me. I have an infant to care for, and I have a very serious need for sleep for at least 10 hours, so you can see how this hinders my reading time.) Before I even began reading the story, I knew I was going to like it. The author introduces the reader to Nu-Shu before the novel begins. I was so glad to learn that little bit of nearly forgotten history, I think that may have put the book in a positive light for me from the start.
Even without having learned about Nu-Shu before reading the book, I still would have loved it. The story follows two young Chinese girls in the nineteenth century from age seven through the rest of their lives - through foot-binding, marriage, childbirth, etc. Lisa See does such a wonderful job telling the story of her characters, that seem very real. Which is probably why I couldn't put the book down. I felt like I was reading about real women's lives, and, just as importantly, I cared about them. I saw aspects of people I knew in nearly all the characters of the book - including myself.
Long story short -- the book was really good even though the title is stupid.
Comments