Lisa See's New Book, Shanghai Girls:A Novel

I just finished Lisa See's new book, Shanghai Girls. I really enjoyed the book. It is a departure from Peony in Love and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in that it takes place in the 20th century and 75% of the novel takes place in Los Angeles. It is a story of two sisters who, like most sisters, have a loving but at times, tumultuous relationship. The older sister is Pearl. She is well educated but feels unloved while, she believes, her parents dote on her younger sister, May, who is playful and beautiful. They are the elite of Shanghai in the late 1930's. They are "the beautiful girls". They pose for an artist that paints them to sell their pictures on calendars and advertisements. But their father is a heavy gambler and loses all. He then sells his girls to Golden Mountain men (Chinese men who have immigrated to the US, made money, and now want to marry Chinese women). Then the Japanese invade and the rape of China takes place. Through horrid conditions and true terror, the sisters make their way to LA to begin their arranged marriages. Read more...