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Secret of a Thousand Beauties
Set against the vibrant and intrigue-laden backdrop of 1930s China, Mingmei Yip's enthralling novel explores one woman's defiant pursuit of independence.
Spring Swallow was promised in marriage while still in her mother's belly. When the groom dies before a wedding can take place, seventeen-year-old Spring Swallow is ordered to become a ghost bride to appease his spirit. Under her in-laws' protection, she will be little more than a servant, unable to know real love or bear children. Refusing to accept her fate as a "bad-luck woman," Spring Swallow flees on her wedding day.
In the city of Soochow, Spring Swallow joins a community of renowned embroiderers. The women work for Aunty Peony, whose exquisite stitching once earned her the Emperor's love. But when Aunty Peony agrees to replicate a famous painting--a lucrative assignment that will take a year to complete--betrayal and jealousy emerges within the group. Spring Swallow becomes entangled in each woman's story of heartbreak, even while she embarks on a dangerous affair with a young revolutionary. On a journey that leads from the remote hillsides around Soochow to cosmopolitan Peking, Spring Swallow draws on the secret techniques learned from Aunty Peony and her own indomitable strength, determined to forge a life that is truly her own.
Spring Swallow was promised in marriage while still in her mother's belly. When the groom dies before a wedding can take place, seventeen-year-old Spring Swallow is ordered to become a ghost bride to appease his spirit. Under her in-laws' protection, she will be little more than a servant, unable to know real love or bear children. Refusing to accept her fate as a "bad-luck woman," Spring Swallow flees on her wedding day.
In the city of Soochow, Spring Swallow joins a community of renowned embroiderers. The women work for Aunty Peony, whose exquisite stitching once earned her the Emperor's love. But when Aunty Peony agrees to replicate a famous painting--a lucrative assignment that will take a year to complete--betrayal and jealousy emerges within the group. Spring Swallow becomes entangled in each woman's story of heartbreak, even while she embarks on a dangerous affair with a young revolutionary. On a journey that leads from the remote hillsides around Soochow to cosmopolitan Peking, Spring Swallow draws on the secret techniques learned from Aunty Peony and her own indomitable strength, determined to forge a life that is truly her own.
315 pages, Paperback
First published November 25, 2014
105 people are currently reading
2068 people want to read
About the author
Mingmei Yip
15 books158 followersMingmei Yip was born in China, received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, and held faculty appointments at the Chinese University and Baptist University in Hong Kong. She's published five books in Chinese, written several columns for seven major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on over forty TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and the U.S. She immigrated to the United States in 1992, where she now lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
November 21, 2014
3.5 stars if I could.
The simplistic writing style at first put me off. I was about to give it up about a third of the way through but the story really held my interest so I continued and then I became more intrigued as it unfolded and I'm glad I stuck with it. The writing seemed less simplistic and more descriptive as it went on and we see China of the 1930's on the cusp of change. We see the old traditions, especially arranged marriages but the ghost marriage was one I had not heard of.
Spring Swallow was trapped in this ancient tradition forced to marry the ghost of a dead man who never made it manhood or even to birth but had been promised to each other while they were still in the womb . This marriage would make her ultimately a slave to her mother in law. She escapes and joins a group of women embroiderers who also seem to be escaping their own fates.
What I found so interesting was the tradition of Chinese embroidery and that it was a part of the royal dynasty traditions as well. In a letter to the reader, Mingmei Yip writes, “ China has a grand tradition of embroidery, carried out by many thousands of women, usually anonymous, often working under great strain. I decided to write about some of these women and the trials they endured to create the works that give us such pleasure. …All five of the embroiderers in this novel belong to this 2000 year-old tradition.”
The novel is about more than the history and traditions. It is about some independent women trying to escape difficult situations and find a better life. Not all of them make very good choices especially with the men they love . There is sadness and there are tragedies here but there is also the beauty of how friends become family and some hope for at least some of these women.
Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley.
The simplistic writing style at first put me off. I was about to give it up about a third of the way through but the story really held my interest so I continued and then I became more intrigued as it unfolded and I'm glad I stuck with it. The writing seemed less simplistic and more descriptive as it went on and we see China of the 1930's on the cusp of change. We see the old traditions, especially arranged marriages but the ghost marriage was one I had not heard of.
Spring Swallow was trapped in this ancient tradition forced to marry the ghost of a dead man who never made it manhood or even to birth but had been promised to each other while they were still in the womb . This marriage would make her ultimately a slave to her mother in law. She escapes and joins a group of women embroiderers who also seem to be escaping their own fates.
What I found so interesting was the tradition of Chinese embroidery and that it was a part of the royal dynasty traditions as well. In a letter to the reader, Mingmei Yip writes, “ China has a grand tradition of embroidery, carried out by many thousands of women, usually anonymous, often working under great strain. I decided to write about some of these women and the trials they endured to create the works that give us such pleasure. …All five of the embroiderers in this novel belong to this 2000 year-old tradition.”
The novel is about more than the history and traditions. It is about some independent women trying to escape difficult situations and find a better life. Not all of them make very good choices especially with the men they love . There is sadness and there are tragedies here but there is also the beauty of how friends become family and some hope for at least some of these women.
Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley.
January 7, 2015
Where I got the book: review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
This novel follows the fortunes of Spring Swallow, whom we first see as a 17-year-old in her home village, forced to go through a marriage ceremony with a boy to whom she was promised when they were both in the womb. Unfortunately her putative fiancé was stillborn, so Spring Swallow gets to marry a cockerel instead to appease the dead boy’s ghost, thus satisfying superstition and providing a convenient alliance for both families.
Not surprisingly, Spring Swallow escapes this arrangement and heads for the city of Soochow, where she falls in with a household of embroiderers headed up by the mysterious Aunty Peony. Spring Swallow learns to execute the beautiful embroidery for which Soochow is famous while trying to find out more about Aunty’s past. The women of the house are supposed to be celibate but that rule seems to be more honored in the breach than the observance, and Spring Swallow soon finds romance blossoming.
I had two main issues with this novel. First of all, it was a long time before I had any sense at all of the period in which it was set—as a Westerner I couldn’t pick up on the clues about the period that were undoubtedly there, and it wasn’t until Spring Swallow gets involved with a revolutionary that I could really view the book as being set during the revolutionary period before World War Two. Even then, my knowledge of Chinese history is hazy enough that I could have used a few more historical pointers.
The second issue was the sheer unlikeliness of the tale, which against could be a cultural thing. I’ve seen the same litany of amazing coincidences, sudden tragedy and sense of wandering from one life into another in other non-Western novels, so I’m sure it is, but it started to grate on me after a while.
On the other hand, I liked the sheer Chinese-ness of both the writing and the story—which, I suppose, is the flipside of the things I didn’t like about it. I enjoyed seeing Westerners through Chinese eyes and was fascinated by the portrait of traditional China that emerged from the descriptions. I got a strong sense of the life of Chinese women in traditional society—although bordering on the tragic, it was relieved by the sheer practicality and earthiness of the women themselves, a determination to have things their own way that was expressed by their actions rather than their words.
One of the stronger points, of course, was the description of the embroidery skills Spring Swallow has to master and her sheer dedication in doing so. I would have like to have seen more come of that. I would also have love to have seen a more satisfying resolution to Aunty Peony’s mystery, although I’ll concede that the best plot twist would also have been an awkward one from the viewpoint of Chinese politics!
Overall my reactions to this novel were uneven—I was interested in some places, less so in others. I’m not sure whether I would have wanted Secret of a Thousand Beauties to be more Chinese or less so, but I certainly think that the Western reader needs just a touch more guidance through the history of the setting.
This novel follows the fortunes of Spring Swallow, whom we first see as a 17-year-old in her home village, forced to go through a marriage ceremony with a boy to whom she was promised when they were both in the womb. Unfortunately her putative fiancé was stillborn, so Spring Swallow gets to marry a cockerel instead to appease the dead boy’s ghost, thus satisfying superstition and providing a convenient alliance for both families.
Not surprisingly, Spring Swallow escapes this arrangement and heads for the city of Soochow, where she falls in with a household of embroiderers headed up by the mysterious Aunty Peony. Spring Swallow learns to execute the beautiful embroidery for which Soochow is famous while trying to find out more about Aunty’s past. The women of the house are supposed to be celibate but that rule seems to be more honored in the breach than the observance, and Spring Swallow soon finds romance blossoming.
I had two main issues with this novel. First of all, it was a long time before I had any sense at all of the period in which it was set—as a Westerner I couldn’t pick up on the clues about the period that were undoubtedly there, and it wasn’t until Spring Swallow gets involved with a revolutionary that I could really view the book as being set during the revolutionary period before World War Two. Even then, my knowledge of Chinese history is hazy enough that I could have used a few more historical pointers.
The second issue was the sheer unlikeliness of the tale, which against could be a cultural thing. I’ve seen the same litany of amazing coincidences, sudden tragedy and sense of wandering from one life into another in other non-Western novels, so I’m sure it is, but it started to grate on me after a while.
On the other hand, I liked the sheer Chinese-ness of both the writing and the story—which, I suppose, is the flipside of the things I didn’t like about it. I enjoyed seeing Westerners through Chinese eyes and was fascinated by the portrait of traditional China that emerged from the descriptions. I got a strong sense of the life of Chinese women in traditional society—although bordering on the tragic, it was relieved by the sheer practicality and earthiness of the women themselves, a determination to have things their own way that was expressed by their actions rather than their words.
One of the stronger points, of course, was the description of the embroidery skills Spring Swallow has to master and her sheer dedication in doing so. I would have like to have seen more come of that. I would also have love to have seen a more satisfying resolution to Aunty Peony’s mystery, although I’ll concede that the best plot twist would also have been an awkward one from the viewpoint of Chinese politics!
Overall my reactions to this novel were uneven—I was interested in some places, less so in others. I’m not sure whether I would have wanted Secret of a Thousand Beauties to be more Chinese or less so, but I certainly think that the Western reader needs just a touch more guidance through the history of the setting.
August 9, 2016
Secret of a Thousand Beauties by Mingmei Yip
Genre: Historical Fiction/Women's Literature
Secret of a Thousand Beauties tells the story of Spring Swallow, a young girl trapped in a promise to marry a man who died in his mother's womb. An orphan, she will serve her husband's family until her death. Spring Swallow runs away from her marriage ceremony to a village outside of Soochow and ends up as an apprentice embroiderer to a cold woman with a secret past, Aunty Peony. Living with several other girls, Aunty Peony teaches Spring Swallow the secrets of great embroidery until secrets and betrayal break up the household, and Spring Swallow must make her own way in the world once more.
Secret of a Thousand Beauties has a lot to it. Set in the 1930s, the novel's China is caught between a progressive period and a feudal tradition, flitting in and out of the lives of the characters. I have had very little exposure to Chinese culture and history, so I enjoyed the descriptive prose and elegant detailed rendering of the setting. However, at times I felt like Yip was trying to take on almost too much. By the end of the book, Spring Swallow has been involved with four different men (including her dead husband) and I felt like it distracted from her growth as an individual to keep giving her romantic interests. Aunt Peony is also a rather static character--we learn more about her but she just keeps being cold and unapproachable. Add that to a major plot hole surrounding Aunt Peony (the whereabouts of her son), this makes for a weaker character than she had the potential to be.
For me, the embroidery was the most interesting part of the book, but halfway through, Spring Swallow just stops doing it. She starts up again at the end, but it's never discussed the same way--it goes from being her passion to something that she just does, and it's wrapped up at the end neatly with a little bow, but I wanted more from the rest of the book. The writing style is very light and fluffy--almost insubstantial, but it's good for when you're looking for something to distract you.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Historical Fiction/Women's Literature
Secret of a Thousand Beauties tells the story of Spring Swallow, a young girl trapped in a promise to marry a man who died in his mother's womb. An orphan, she will serve her husband's family until her death. Spring Swallow runs away from her marriage ceremony to a village outside of Soochow and ends up as an apprentice embroiderer to a cold woman with a secret past, Aunty Peony. Living with several other girls, Aunty Peony teaches Spring Swallow the secrets of great embroidery until secrets and betrayal break up the household, and Spring Swallow must make her own way in the world once more.
Secret of a Thousand Beauties has a lot to it. Set in the 1930s, the novel's China is caught between a progressive period and a feudal tradition, flitting in and out of the lives of the characters. I have had very little exposure to Chinese culture and history, so I enjoyed the descriptive prose and elegant detailed rendering of the setting. However, at times I felt like Yip was trying to take on almost too much. By the end of the book, Spring Swallow has been involved with four different men (including her dead husband) and I felt like it distracted from her growth as an individual to keep giving her romantic interests. Aunt Peony is also a rather static character--we learn more about her but she just keeps being cold and unapproachable. Add that to a major plot hole surrounding Aunt Peony (the whereabouts of her son), this makes for a weaker character than she had the potential to be.
For me, the embroidery was the most interesting part of the book, but halfway through, Spring Swallow just stops doing it. She starts up again at the end, but it's never discussed the same way--it goes from being her passion to something that she just does, and it's wrapped up at the end neatly with a little bow, but I wanted more from the rest of the book. The writing style is very light and fluffy--almost insubstantial, but it's good for when you're looking for something to distract you.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 13, 2015
Well, this book...I really struggled to read it, to like it, but I kept wanting to read something else instead. For one thing,the writer has this incessant need to exclaim so many sentences that I felt like she was shouting! Instead of writing! My goodness! So many, many exclamation points!
Also, the writing was tedious, lots of 'tell the reader,' instead of showing. An aunt is mean, okay let's see her meanness. A girl is curvaceous, so that must mean she's devious. Well, okay, but I am sure there are many nice curvaceous girls. Someone is mysterious, simply because the writer says so. I needed more! I wanted to know more about these people!
More background would have been nice with regard to the subject of 'ghost brides,' too. What a fascinating premise for any story! Yet it's mentioned rather fleetingly at the beginning of the book and then - that's it.
So great idea for a book. Tremendous locale, setting, etc. The book has obvious strengths as to originality, but the presentation is flat.
Also, the writing was tedious, lots of 'tell the reader,' instead of showing. An aunt is mean, okay let's see her meanness. A girl is curvaceous, so that must mean she's devious. Well, okay, but I am sure there are many nice curvaceous girls. Someone is mysterious, simply because the writer says so. I needed more! I wanted to know more about these people!
More background would have been nice with regard to the subject of 'ghost brides,' too. What a fascinating premise for any story! Yet it's mentioned rather fleetingly at the beginning of the book and then - that's it.
So great idea for a book. Tremendous locale, setting, etc. The book has obvious strengths as to originality, but the presentation is flat.
February 5, 2015
4.5/5
This book is beautiful. It lingers with you even after you've finished, set it down, and walked away. In part this is because of the plot, in which the main character Spring Swallow escapes her fate as a ghost bride after her arranged-to-be-husband's demise. This sadness, this ghost haunts the overall tone of the book, giving each layer of beautiful prose a melancholy undertone. But this book also stays with you because of the rich detail that's put into the writing. Like Yip's other books, there's something almost song-like about the way this was written.
Secret of a Thousand Beauties is a book that comes off as well informed. I learned quite a fair bit about the art of embroidery in this book, which is something that I have no shame in saying that I knew absolutely nothing about. In addition, it blends this old tradition with the cultures of China. It was fascinating to read about their daily lives and traditions and customs as I navigated along Spring Swallow's journey.
It sucks you in from the beginning with its alluring use of language and the shroud of mystery that hangs over it all. The more you read, the more characters you meet who have secrets of their own. You cannot help but to continue to read in the hopes that you'll discover all of them, and what makes them act as they do.
I recommend this book to anyone who has an appreciation for art, historical settings, Chinese culture, or beautiful, poetic prose. Thank you to Mingmei Yip who gave me a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.
This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.
This book is beautiful. It lingers with you even after you've finished, set it down, and walked away. In part this is because of the plot, in which the main character Spring Swallow escapes her fate as a ghost bride after her arranged-to-be-husband's demise. This sadness, this ghost haunts the overall tone of the book, giving each layer of beautiful prose a melancholy undertone. But this book also stays with you because of the rich detail that's put into the writing. Like Yip's other books, there's something almost song-like about the way this was written.
Secret of a Thousand Beauties is a book that comes off as well informed. I learned quite a fair bit about the art of embroidery in this book, which is something that I have no shame in saying that I knew absolutely nothing about. In addition, it blends this old tradition with the cultures of China. It was fascinating to read about their daily lives and traditions and customs as I navigated along Spring Swallow's journey.
It sucks you in from the beginning with its alluring use of language and the shroud of mystery that hangs over it all. The more you read, the more characters you meet who have secrets of their own. You cannot help but to continue to read in the hopes that you'll discover all of them, and what makes them act as they do.
I recommend this book to anyone who has an appreciation for art, historical settings, Chinese culture, or beautiful, poetic prose. Thank you to Mingmei Yip who gave me a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.
This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.
December 15, 2014
"Secret of a Thousand Beauties" begins when Spring Swallow, a young woman living in China during the 1930s. She was promised to her mother's friend's son before she was born. He died at birth and now that Spring Swallow is of age, she must become a ghost bride where she will still be married to the son even though he is dead. Instead of a life with her in-laws that she barely knows, she decides to run away and is able to find shelter with a woman that she calls Aunt Peony who teaches her the skill of embroidery. This is the story of one woman's determination to control her own destiny during a time where it may seem like she has no choice in the matter.
I loved following Spring Swallow's journey. She is such a fascinating character and definitely one who lives many lives throughout the book, each one as interesting as the last. With Aunt Peony, she learns a skill that she will be able to use to carry her through the rest of her life. She falls in love with a revolutionary, who might care more about the revolution than he does her. And these are just two of the stages that she lives. I loved reading about where her desires took her. Although she is often limited in what she can do for herself by society, she finds a way to make it work.
The book is told from the perspective of Spring Swallow, which I loved. It really allowed me to fully immerse myself in the story. The storytelling style is simple but powerful. I loved all of the historical detail that the author chose to include. I did not know much about China in the 1930s at all so I really enjoyed getting to visit a new time and place through this story! Overall, this was a great historical fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed!
I loved following Spring Swallow's journey. She is such a fascinating character and definitely one who lives many lives throughout the book, each one as interesting as the last. With Aunt Peony, she learns a skill that she will be able to use to carry her through the rest of her life. She falls in love with a revolutionary, who might care more about the revolution than he does her. And these are just two of the stages that she lives. I loved reading about where her desires took her. Although she is often limited in what she can do for herself by society, she finds a way to make it work.
The book is told from the perspective of Spring Swallow, which I loved. It really allowed me to fully immerse myself in the story. The storytelling style is simple but powerful. I loved all of the historical detail that the author chose to include. I did not know much about China in the 1930s at all so I really enjoyed getting to visit a new time and place through this story! Overall, this was a great historical fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed!
March 8, 2015
**Thank you Kingston Books and Netgalley for providing this in exchange for an honest review**
3.5 Stars
Set in 1930s China, Secret of a Thousand Beauties tells the story of Spring Swallow. An unfortunate girl who is betrothed to a ghost before she is even born. Spring Swallow has been more or less nothing but a maid to the Mean Aunt who raised her. She knows after the official wedding to her Ghost husband, she'll be shipped off to her new mother in law's house to play the same role. But Spring Swallow has other plans. She wants more in life. She doesn't want much. She just wants to be happy. She knows she never will be if things play out as planned, so she starts planning her escape.
She'll eventually meet the woman who will set her new life into motion, Purple. Purple is an embroider and agrees to take Spring Swallow home with her to meet her teacher, Aunt Peony. The timing couldn't be better. At the moment, Aunt is extremely busy with embroidering a copy of the Along the River during the Qingming Festival. Aunt agrees to take Spring Swallow on in exchange for cleaning and helping with small embroidery pieces. Spring Swallow must also pledge to follow the rules her new teacher gives her to live by. Most of her time is spent working, but the few hours Spring Swallow does get, she spends up on a mountain. There, its just her and her thoughts. She spends her time drawing out patterns and writing her thoughts on the mountain wall. On one of these visits, she finds someone has responded to her writing. She never could have guest that one message on the mountain was about to send her life off on a new path.
I really liked this a lot. I'm a huge fan of Amy Tan and Lisa See. This story read like a lite version of their writing. I don't mean it felt Yip ripped them off. Yip's writing is beautiful and unique, but she wasn't as emotionally draining as Tan or See. Tan and See tend to write books that love nothing more then to rip your heart out and stomp on it repeatedly. While this book has tragedies, they're fewer and far between. Where I need time between Tan and See books, I could (and probably will) pick up another Yip book very soon. Her characters feel like real human beings. I feel like I've met Spring Swallow. The world Yip created was perfect. I could actually see all the setting. Only one thing kind of bugs me about the title. It's something I personally see as a loose end. The author did address it, and I guess most readers would except it as neatly tied up, but it bugs me. I'm honestly surprised I hadn't heard of Yip until recently. Her name really deserves to be as prominent as Tan or See.
3.5 Stars
Set in 1930s China, Secret of a Thousand Beauties tells the story of Spring Swallow. An unfortunate girl who is betrothed to a ghost before she is even born. Spring Swallow has been more or less nothing but a maid to the Mean Aunt who raised her. She knows after the official wedding to her Ghost husband, she'll be shipped off to her new mother in law's house to play the same role. But Spring Swallow has other plans. She wants more in life. She doesn't want much. She just wants to be happy. She knows she never will be if things play out as planned, so she starts planning her escape.
She'll eventually meet the woman who will set her new life into motion, Purple. Purple is an embroider and agrees to take Spring Swallow home with her to meet her teacher, Aunt Peony. The timing couldn't be better. At the moment, Aunt is extremely busy with embroidering a copy of the Along the River during the Qingming Festival. Aunt agrees to take Spring Swallow on in exchange for cleaning and helping with small embroidery pieces. Spring Swallow must also pledge to follow the rules her new teacher gives her to live by. Most of her time is spent working, but the few hours Spring Swallow does get, she spends up on a mountain. There, its just her and her thoughts. She spends her time drawing out patterns and writing her thoughts on the mountain wall. On one of these visits, she finds someone has responded to her writing. She never could have guest that one message on the mountain was about to send her life off on a new path.
I really liked this a lot. I'm a huge fan of Amy Tan and Lisa See. This story read like a lite version of their writing. I don't mean it felt Yip ripped them off. Yip's writing is beautiful and unique, but she wasn't as emotionally draining as Tan or See. Tan and See tend to write books that love nothing more then to rip your heart out and stomp on it repeatedly. While this book has tragedies, they're fewer and far between. Where I need time between Tan and See books, I could (and probably will) pick up another Yip book very soon. Her characters feel like real human beings. I feel like I've met Spring Swallow. The world Yip created was perfect. I could actually see all the setting. Only one thing kind of bugs me about the title. It's something I personally see as a loose end. The author did address it, and I guess most readers would except it as neatly tied up, but it bugs me. I'm honestly surprised I hadn't heard of Yip until recently. Her name really deserves to be as prominent as Tan or See.
November 22, 2014
The Secret of a Thousand Beauties is one of those reads that you just have to experience. Meaning that if you try going into the read with preconceived notions, hopes, and/or plans for the characters' lives,
you will spend a great deal of your reading time very angry.
The story found here, as with most stories involving Asian women of it's period, is one of seeming unending struggle, loss, grief, and suffering. Often centering around the pursuit of, loss of, search for, love of, (and in one case) the murder of a man.
For young Spring Sparrow...her troubles all began when she was given in marriage to 'a ghost'. Meaning that even though the young man that she was betrothed to was dead. She was still expected to marry him as though he was alive, and live out her days taking care of his mother.
Seeing this as the trap that it was, our young heroine flees to a neighboring town on the day of her wedding, and has the luck of running into Purple.
Purple is one of a band of embroiderers, renown for their exquisite craftsmanship. Headed by the secretive and coolly aloof Aunty Peony.
Spring Sparrow couldn't be more pleased when Aunty Peony agrees to take her on as an apprentice.
What Spring Sparrow has no way of knowing is that becoming Aunty's protegee, makes the naive teen privy to some pretty explosive secrets.
As the story progresses, and many of the secrets of the house and its inhabitants come to light; there is a quite dramatic and consistent down turn in everyone's fortunes, accompanied by the customary parting of the ways.
Spring Sparrow and the youngest charge of the house Little Doll, leave only after they have been deserted by everyone else, Sparrow has gotten married and impregnated by a revolutionary on top of a mountain, one of her housemates is found murdered,and she discovers her teacher's most treasured secret.
Hold on tight, because this is where the slippery slope from bad to worse gets a bit steep for Spring Sparrow and the gang in the life department.
Needless to say, this is a very vivid and most of time heart wrenching story. There are however, a few bright spots, that make all the Kleenex-worthy moments worth it.
The inclusion of the art of embroidery and all of its nuance and lore, elevated the experience into one graced by metaphor and life lessons similar to those found in proverbs.
What this book does like few others, is to extol the virtues of perseverance,hard work, patience, love, and intelligence,strength, and the preservation and creation of beauty as exemplified by women of the Chinese culture.
you will spend a great deal of your reading time very angry.
The story found here, as with most stories involving Asian women of it's period, is one of seeming unending struggle, loss, grief, and suffering. Often centering around the pursuit of, loss of, search for, love of, (and in one case) the murder of a man.
For young Spring Sparrow...her troubles all began when she was given in marriage to 'a ghost'. Meaning that even though the young man that she was betrothed to was dead. She was still expected to marry him as though he was alive, and live out her days taking care of his mother.
Seeing this as the trap that it was, our young heroine flees to a neighboring town on the day of her wedding, and has the luck of running into Purple.
Purple is one of a band of embroiderers, renown for their exquisite craftsmanship. Headed by the secretive and coolly aloof Aunty Peony.
Spring Sparrow couldn't be more pleased when Aunty Peony agrees to take her on as an apprentice.
What Spring Sparrow has no way of knowing is that becoming Aunty's protegee, makes the naive teen privy to some pretty explosive secrets.
As the story progresses, and many of the secrets of the house and its inhabitants come to light; there is a quite dramatic and consistent down turn in everyone's fortunes, accompanied by the customary parting of the ways.
Spring Sparrow and the youngest charge of the house Little Doll, leave only after they have been deserted by everyone else, Sparrow has gotten married and impregnated by a revolutionary on top of a mountain, one of her housemates is found murdered,and she discovers her teacher's most treasured secret.
Hold on tight, because this is where the slippery slope from bad to worse gets a bit steep for Spring Sparrow and the gang in the life department.
Needless to say, this is a very vivid and most of time heart wrenching story. There are however, a few bright spots, that make all the Kleenex-worthy moments worth it.
The inclusion of the art of embroidery and all of its nuance and lore, elevated the experience into one graced by metaphor and life lessons similar to those found in proverbs.
What this book does like few others, is to extol the virtues of perseverance,hard work, patience, love, and intelligence,strength, and the preservation and creation of beauty as exemplified by women of the Chinese culture.
August 25, 2017
It occurred to me as I read along in this book that I was having trouble discerning the time/era this book was set. I vaguely remember seeing something in the opening pages about the 1930's but certainly I couldn't tell it from the story. I admit I'm not a Chinese cultural scholar but it felt off somehow to me. But then again, I suppose the author could have nailed the nuances of the era at the end of Feudalism, beginning of Modernization, I simply don't know. I also felt the timeline was odd insofar as the main character in the span of just 2 years, marries three times, has two children, learns to be a master embroiderer, etc.. etc. The timeline felt too quick and impossible, at the least very contrived. But, I will say that the basic story was interesting and I was eager to come back to the book every day. Therefore, I'm giving it three stars. It was fun while it lasted but will quickly be forgotten.
March 19, 2016
Much of the fascination with this book for me came because of the setting: 1930’s China. I love historical fiction, and add to that the sense of ‘foreignness’ of the narrative voice and setting, and I was hooked.
Starting with a very simplistic style that may be off-putting to some, Mingmei Yip’s word use and descriptions seem to grow as Spring Swallow, the protagonist grows and takes steps to achieve some sense of independence in a culture that is so not prepared or accepting.
Spring Swallow navigates customs, interactions and challenges with a blend of ‘oh no way’ and ‘what other choice is available’ sort of approach, if an opportunity arises to avoid an obvious difficulty, she is willing to take it, often to her detriment. Starting with a betrothal to a young man who was dead, she is expected to continue and proceed as if the wedding happened. Her first real bristle against authority as she refuses to become the handmaiden to his grieving mother. Running away to a nearby village, she joins on with to become a protégé of Aunty Peony, a famed embroiderer. While it seems that a life is cleanly laid out where she can thrive, again the fates intervene and the promising life feels more façade than solid.
Mingmei Yip is not simply weaving a story of Spring Swallow’s history, she is presenting us a beautifully detailed and richly drawn portrait of life in a small Chinese village in the early 20th century, where customs and societal norms are hundreds if not thousands of years old, and non-conformance with one aspect of that life can, and often does, lead to sorrow, suffering, loss and struggle. From curiosity to concern, readers will find their own emotional investment in the story deepen and grow just as Spring Swallow learns, grows and shares her life. Utterly unlike anything I have read before, the descriptions, customs and daily activities were described and defined in a way that made sense for information and to the story progression. If you want something different that is far more a savor than a speed read – this is the title.
I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
This review was originally posted on I am, Indeed
Starting with a very simplistic style that may be off-putting to some, Mingmei Yip’s word use and descriptions seem to grow as Spring Swallow, the protagonist grows and takes steps to achieve some sense of independence in a culture that is so not prepared or accepting.
Spring Swallow navigates customs, interactions and challenges with a blend of ‘oh no way’ and ‘what other choice is available’ sort of approach, if an opportunity arises to avoid an obvious difficulty, she is willing to take it, often to her detriment. Starting with a betrothal to a young man who was dead, she is expected to continue and proceed as if the wedding happened. Her first real bristle against authority as she refuses to become the handmaiden to his grieving mother. Running away to a nearby village, she joins on with to become a protégé of Aunty Peony, a famed embroiderer. While it seems that a life is cleanly laid out where she can thrive, again the fates intervene and the promising life feels more façade than solid.
Mingmei Yip is not simply weaving a story of Spring Swallow’s history, she is presenting us a beautifully detailed and richly drawn portrait of life in a small Chinese village in the early 20th century, where customs and societal norms are hundreds if not thousands of years old, and non-conformance with one aspect of that life can, and often does, lead to sorrow, suffering, loss and struggle. From curiosity to concern, readers will find their own emotional investment in the story deepen and grow just as Spring Swallow learns, grows and shares her life. Utterly unlike anything I have read before, the descriptions, customs and daily activities were described and defined in a way that made sense for information and to the story progression. If you want something different that is far more a savor than a speed read – this is the title.
I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
This review was originally posted on I am, Indeed
November 8, 2014
Thank you to Kensington Books and Netgally for the ARC!
There are a lot of elements here that I typically enjoy -- history, interpersonal drama, intrigue -- but sadly, the story never really came together for me. From the beginning I felt uncertain of the story goal, and I never really connected with the central characters. As a result, the whole book just felt like a list of all the things that happened to Spring Swallow. I really wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. I'm not sorry that I read it, but I am sorry that I can't recommend it more highly. There really was nothing wrong with it but my lack of ability to connect.
There are a lot of elements here that I typically enjoy -- history, interpersonal drama, intrigue -- but sadly, the story never really came together for me. From the beginning I felt uncertain of the story goal, and I never really connected with the central characters. As a result, the whole book just felt like a list of all the things that happened to Spring Swallow. I really wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. I'm not sorry that I read it, but I am sorry that I can't recommend it more highly. There really was nothing wrong with it but my lack of ability to connect.
November 30, 2014
This the story of Spring Swallow, a woman who was married off by her family to a ghost, and managed to escape to find work in an embroidery studio.
The best thing I can say about this book is it was fairly short. It had promise - the story sounded interesting to me - but the writing was just so choppy that it was really hard to get in to it. Nothing flowed.
Not recommended.
The best thing I can say about this book is it was fairly short. It had promise - the story sounded interesting to me - but the writing was just so choppy that it was really hard to get in to it. Nothing flowed.
Not recommended.
April 30, 2018
I haven't been this upset with a book for quite a while.
I had just come off from reading a rather heady book and was looking for something lighter. As I love historical fiction, I picked up this title.
Immediately I found the writing style sophomoric. Excessive use of exclamation marks where they really weren't necessary and modern colloquialisms in a period book should have tipped me off early on that this title would eventually get on my nerves, but I was curious where this book was going, so I continued.
What finally completely turned me off to this book was the sheer volume of inconsistencies. A character would be established as illiterate, yet the protagonist leaves them notes. A journey that took a character days to accomplish in one chapter may take an hour later. One character repeatedly described as having one eye would have "eyes" only to return to the singular again, all within the span of a page. Time, space, and logic seemed to be disregarded for convenience.
I gave this book two stars because the story was mildly entertaining, though so far-fetch it borders on being complete fantasy, and it was mercifully short. I will not be seeking out this author again.
I had just come off from reading a rather heady book and was looking for something lighter. As I love historical fiction, I picked up this title.
Immediately I found the writing style sophomoric. Excessive use of exclamation marks where they really weren't necessary and modern colloquialisms in a period book should have tipped me off early on that this title would eventually get on my nerves, but I was curious where this book was going, so I continued.
What finally completely turned me off to this book was the sheer volume of inconsistencies. A character would be established as illiterate, yet the protagonist leaves them notes. A journey that took a character days to accomplish in one chapter may take an hour later. One character repeatedly described as having one eye would have "eyes" only to return to the singular again, all within the span of a page. Time, space, and logic seemed to be disregarded for convenience.
I gave this book two stars because the story was mildly entertaining, though so far-fetch it borders on being complete fantasy, and it was mercifully short. I will not be seeking out this author again.
November 23, 2017
I enjoyed this story. It was sad at times. Spring Swallow been though so much. She married first to a ghost then to a man who she loved but couldn't be with then to a man she never meet before who turned out to be a gambler and cheater she loses her first child from her second husband and then after running away from her second husband and his family to find out she was pregnant with his child. Then she marries for the fourth and last time.
I was hoping for a scene where Spring Swallow runs into her mean aunt.
I really loved Little Doll.
I was hoping for a scene where Spring Swallow runs into her mean aunt.
I really loved Little Doll.
March 5, 2015
Review to come in March at ALBTALBS:
“Secret of a Thousand Beauties” by Mingmei Yip is the story of Spring Swallow a young Chinese woman who comes of age in the tumultuous 1930’s in and around Peking. Chinese culture is in flux, Western missionaries are ever more present, revolutionaries are stirring in the mountains and universities but old cultural traditions and social norms are not yet forgotten. I requested this historical novel (it is not a historical romance) because I was intrigued by the setting, and time period. Last year when I struggled to find historical romances to enjoy, I found the most success the farther I moved from England and the Regency. Jeannie Lin’s "Lotus Palace" and Jenn Bennett’s "Bitter Spirits" were two of my favorite books last year.
Spring Swallow had the great misfortune of losing her parents while just a child. She is left to be indifferently raised by an aunt, who considers her a burden and a source of bad luck. Mean Aunt as Spring Swallow refers to her throughout the novel forces Spring Swallow to agree to marry a ghost at the age of 17. Her ghost groom was her mother’s best-friend’s stillborn son. The arrangement would essentially transfer Spring Swallow to her ghost husband’s family, where Spring Swallow would then owe them a lifetime of celibate servitude. Although she endures the ceremony, she refuses to accept a farcical pseudo-marriage as her lot in life, and flees her village. Hungry and homeless she is befriended by young secretive woman, named Purple who brings her into the home of her teacher Aunt Peony. Aunt Peony is a master embroider. Aunt Peony who runs an embroidery workshop from her solitary country home. Aunt Peony’s household is filled with other ill-fated young women. While Aunt Peony’s manner is harsh, and she is secretive about her history, she nevertheless teaches these young women skills and provides them a home where they can live without prostituting their bodies. For a short-time Spring Swallow find a home, among these women, before greed, secrets & men tear them apart.
The novel is best described as melodrama. The novel covers a roughly 3 years span in the life of these young women. We learn of their tarnished pasts, small diversions, faithless lovers, dashed dreams and tragic choices as they come and go from Spring Swallow’s life. We follow Spring Swallow from her days as a timid runaway bride to a ghost, to her romance with revolutionary and her eventual contentment in an unconventional marriage with a unlikely groom.
While the novel is a treasure trove of information about the everyday life of villagers and poor city dwellers in 1930’s China and provided a rich history lesson about the often forgotten artisans who created China’s gorgeous embroidery, the story relied to often on coincidence & chance. Too often Spring Swallow learns life changing news by running into just the right person or reading just the right newspaper. I grew dismayed that not one Chinese character in the novel treated Spring Swallow with disinterested kindness or compassion. Everyone including her beloved revolutionary husband Shang Feng, always wanted something from her or betrayed and abandoned her. The only beacons of generosity and love in the novel are a pair of Catholic missionaries, Father Edwin and Ryan McFarland, who take Spring Swallow in when she most needs them. Spring Swallow is heroic in that she survives a life that killed so many of her contemporaries, and that she is able to make opportunist choices of survival without harming others. In the end when her sacrifice, loyalty and tenacity are rewarded with safety, security and recognition, her story feels like a uncomfortable & self-congratulatory fable about compromise.
Grade C- :
I received a review copy of Yip’s Secret of a Thousand Beauties from Kensington Books via NetGalley.
“Secret of a Thousand Beauties” by Mingmei Yip is the story of Spring Swallow a young Chinese woman who comes of age in the tumultuous 1930’s in and around Peking. Chinese culture is in flux, Western missionaries are ever more present, revolutionaries are stirring in the mountains and universities but old cultural traditions and social norms are not yet forgotten. I requested this historical novel (it is not a historical romance) because I was intrigued by the setting, and time period. Last year when I struggled to find historical romances to enjoy, I found the most success the farther I moved from England and the Regency. Jeannie Lin’s "Lotus Palace" and Jenn Bennett’s "Bitter Spirits" were two of my favorite books last year.
Spring Swallow had the great misfortune of losing her parents while just a child. She is left to be indifferently raised by an aunt, who considers her a burden and a source of bad luck. Mean Aunt as Spring Swallow refers to her throughout the novel forces Spring Swallow to agree to marry a ghost at the age of 17. Her ghost groom was her mother’s best-friend’s stillborn son. The arrangement would essentially transfer Spring Swallow to her ghost husband’s family, where Spring Swallow would then owe them a lifetime of celibate servitude. Although she endures the ceremony, she refuses to accept a farcical pseudo-marriage as her lot in life, and flees her village. Hungry and homeless she is befriended by young secretive woman, named Purple who brings her into the home of her teacher Aunt Peony. Aunt Peony is a master embroider. Aunt Peony who runs an embroidery workshop from her solitary country home. Aunt Peony’s household is filled with other ill-fated young women. While Aunt Peony’s manner is harsh, and she is secretive about her history, she nevertheless teaches these young women skills and provides them a home where they can live without prostituting their bodies. For a short-time Spring Swallow find a home, among these women, before greed, secrets & men tear them apart.
The novel is best described as melodrama. The novel covers a roughly 3 years span in the life of these young women. We learn of their tarnished pasts, small diversions, faithless lovers, dashed dreams and tragic choices as they come and go from Spring Swallow’s life. We follow Spring Swallow from her days as a timid runaway bride to a ghost, to her romance with revolutionary and her eventual contentment in an unconventional marriage with a unlikely groom.
While the novel is a treasure trove of information about the everyday life of villagers and poor city dwellers in 1930’s China and provided a rich history lesson about the often forgotten artisans who created China’s gorgeous embroidery, the story relied to often on coincidence & chance. Too often Spring Swallow learns life changing news by running into just the right person or reading just the right newspaper. I grew dismayed that not one Chinese character in the novel treated Spring Swallow with disinterested kindness or compassion. Everyone including her beloved revolutionary husband Shang Feng, always wanted something from her or betrayed and abandoned her. The only beacons of generosity and love in the novel are a pair of Catholic missionaries, Father Edwin and Ryan McFarland, who take Spring Swallow in when she most needs them. Spring Swallow is heroic in that she survives a life that killed so many of her contemporaries, and that she is able to make opportunist choices of survival without harming others. In the end when her sacrifice, loyalty and tenacity are rewarded with safety, security and recognition, her story feels like a uncomfortable & self-congratulatory fable about compromise.
Grade C- :
I received a review copy of Yip’s Secret of a Thousand Beauties from Kensington Books via NetGalley.
November 29, 2014
Scarlett O’Hara has nothing on Spring Swallow! This young heroine in 1930s China has to endure many tragedies, lost husbands, poverty, and hard work in order to survive. At the age of seventeen, she is forced into a ghost marriage—a marriage to a dead man she was promised to before both of them were born. She bravely runs away, but the choice she makes to leave her village is more than daring—it is dangerous. How will she fend for herself?
Spring Swallow meets another lost soul who takes her to a house on the side of a haunted mountain. There she becomes an apprentice to Aunty Peony, a cold and calculating master embroiderer with a dark past. She learns the “secrets of a thousand beauties” in the Su tradition of embroidery and experiences conflicts of jealousy and betrayal with the other “sisters” as they work on an embroidered painting to enter a competition. Spring Swallow’s walks on the mountain bring her to the notice of a young revolutionary, Shen Feng, and at last she feels she has found true love. But nothing is easy for Spring Swallow. She faces more challenges and disappointments as her lover goes off to follow his dream of a better China.
Rich in detail, the story feels like it takes place one hundred years or more earlier than the 1930s, as the characters are steeped in ancient superstitions and fear of ghost hauntings. The characterization of Spring Swallow as a capable young woman who follows her heart is its biggest draw and should please readers of women’s fiction.
Spring Swallow meets another lost soul who takes her to a house on the side of a haunted mountain. There she becomes an apprentice to Aunty Peony, a cold and calculating master embroiderer with a dark past. She learns the “secrets of a thousand beauties” in the Su tradition of embroidery and experiences conflicts of jealousy and betrayal with the other “sisters” as they work on an embroidered painting to enter a competition. Spring Swallow’s walks on the mountain bring her to the notice of a young revolutionary, Shen Feng, and at last she feels she has found true love. But nothing is easy for Spring Swallow. She faces more challenges and disappointments as her lover goes off to follow his dream of a better China.
Rich in detail, the story feels like it takes place one hundred years or more earlier than the 1930s, as the characters are steeped in ancient superstitions and fear of ghost hauntings. The characterization of Spring Swallow as a capable young woman who follows her heart is its biggest draw and should please readers of women’s fiction.
January 12, 2015
I wish the story would had stayed with the stories of the women of the house and their interactions with each other. I was thinking the book would be like the women of silk but the writer is not as skilled in character development to write an intriging story as Tsukiyama accomplish with the women of silk. the story didnt have a nice flow to it everything happen in a rush. U were told to not like characters not by getting to know them but because Swallow basically said leilei is evil, the second husband is a loser and her last husband was nice. I felt i never really got to know purple, leilei or even doll to form strong opinions of them. I have come across this author's books before because the covers r so nice. This is the first one i decided to read. It started well but somewhere the story just went in a bad direction and the execution of a good historical fiction book didnt happen.
September 6, 2015
I received this book as a Goodreads Give-Away!!
Initially I found it hard to get into as it just didn't really grab at me & I put it down for awhile a few times. This was until about a quarter of the way through the book. Then last night I begrudgingly picked it up again & couldn't put it down until I was done!!!! Lovely lovely !!
Initially I found it hard to get into as it just didn't really grab at me & I put it down for awhile a few times. This was until about a quarter of the way through the book. Then last night I begrudgingly picked it up again & couldn't put it down until I was done!!!! Lovely lovely !!
March 1, 2015
I got about half way through this book and gave up! It's is so badly written I couldn't take it anymore. I think there could've been a good story in here but the dialogue was so terrible I didn't care to try anymore!
April 15, 2015
I honestly don't even want to review this. Another reviewer put it very fittingly. It's rather like a Chinese Harlequin soap, and I tend to agree. Unappealing, immature, bordering on racist characters with an overwhelming sense of melodrama. Just no.
June 19, 2017
This is the second novel that I’ve read by Mingmei Yip, and I’m officially a fan. While the subject matter of her stories can be somewhat predictable, I find that the inclusion of so many interesting historical facts and details about the different eras in China’s history add to the overall reader experience. The way that Yip illustrates many Chinese cultural customs through her characters’ lives and actions also speaks to me. As a Eurasian person myself, I think I enjoy Yip’s books more because they provide a bit of insight into the history and culture that I too carry inside me. While the characters in her novels are often placed in extreme situations in order to drive various plot devices, they still (mostly) seem like real people, living real lives. In Yip’s world, the women always take center stage; they are the ones we come to know, while the (often not quite fully realized) male characters serve mainly as a way to illustrate how men treat women in various circumstances, both good and bad. Her characters are often economically disadvantaged and uneducated, so the dialog and language are usually quite simple, which would have been accurate for the time periods that she writes in. Yip somehow manages to create woman-driven narratives with interesting female characters that don’t follow the traditional socioeconomic rules but still manage to triumph, in whatever ways they can, given the inhospitable conditions they are thrown into. That alone, in my opinion, is something to read for.
March 9, 2018
I’m not sure if I want to rate this novel of 1930s China a 3 or a 4. Maybe 3.5? I enjoyed Spring Swallow’s story, but I don’t know about the writing style. Written in the first person, this novel is either very brilliantly Chinese or very immature writing. I’m not implying the Chinese writing is immature, rather that there is a certain simplicity to Yip’s writing.
Much of the plot was predictable, but still enjoyable. In short, the novel tells the story of a talented and courageous young Chinese girl, Spring Swallow. After escaping her marriage to a ghost, she lands in a house of embroidery, where she learns the art and trade of embroidery. But her teacher, Aunt Peony, is a rather unsavory character (herself a victim of the harsh times), and Spring Swallow and her sisters don’t have a happy life with Aunt Peony. Spring Swallow will eventually marry four times and learn hard lessons about life and love from each marriage.
Much of the plot was predictable, but still enjoyable. In short, the novel tells the story of a talented and courageous young Chinese girl, Spring Swallow. After escaping her marriage to a ghost, she lands in a house of embroidery, where she learns the art and trade of embroidery. But her teacher, Aunt Peony, is a rather unsavory character (herself a victim of the harsh times), and Spring Swallow and her sisters don’t have a happy life with Aunt Peony. Spring Swallow will eventually marry four times and learn hard lessons about life and love from each marriage.
August 3, 2022
Well, poor language and a unlikely story of chanced encounters and accidental occurrences. In fact: from the very beginning. And there is a lot of telling instead of showing.
Timing is China in the 1930’s, a time in which feudal society is slowly modernising. The story shows it by the choosing her own path more or less for the main character and a vague revolutionary husband/hero. I loved the passages about the embroidery and the different styles. That is my one star. I would have loved it more if the author would have shown some real technical knowledge about preparing and splitting of threads and different stitches. For example. Halfway the main character even stopped embroidering. The end is glueing things together. Boring.
I really do not need to read another book by this author.
Timing is China in the 1930’s, a time in which feudal society is slowly modernising. The story shows it by the choosing her own path more or less for the main character and a vague revolutionary husband/hero. I loved the passages about the embroidery and the different styles. That is my one star. I would have loved it more if the author would have shown some real technical knowledge about preparing and splitting of threads and different stitches. For example. Halfway the main character even stopped embroidering. The end is glueing things together. Boring.
I really do not need to read another book by this author.
July 2, 2017
I really enjoyed this novel. I had a hard time putting it down once I finally sat down to read it. The characters were intriguing and I'm glad Spring Swallow's bad luck turned around. I really loved Little Doll and the simple things that made her happy and love her life. Maybe if the other sisters had been more like her they wouldn't have met such ill fates. Aunt Peony's story was sad but she could never move on from her old life so she always thought she was better than everyone and would never have a fulfilling life. She seemed to be living a half life since her escape. Loved it go and read it.
July 6, 2017
I really wanted to like this book more than what I did. This was a gift, and I was excited because it was about a group of female embroiderers in the 1930s in China. This was for me! However, there was very little information on the embroidery that was done. I wanted more colors, more stitches, more technique, but the art was just glossed over. The story of the women was more told than shone. There was much discussion of angst, then suddenly something happened or there was a ridiculous coincidence. Interesting, but not worth telling you all to read it!
July 27, 2020
I know that the description of this book was a novel. It was very descriptive and at times gripping. It began as a believable story, but became just a fantasy that was strange and then became stranger. There were several contradictions with the characters that were hard to resolve and the stories were 90% sad and heartbreaking.
This book was a gripping story if you can ignore the inconsistencies with the characters. The turns and twists with the vivid description can keep you captivated. I would read another novel of hers.
This book was a gripping story if you can ignore the inconsistencies with the characters. The turns and twists with the vivid description can keep you captivated. I would read another novel of hers.
June 20, 2018
The time period this book took place in was a little confusing as it felt more modern, with hints of old fashioned traditions in it, even though it said 1930's it didn't have that feel. The book was also a tad bit boring I thought, at every chance it could there was another piece of bad luck for Spring Swallow.
The ending was cute, as it finally gave a happily every after, as well as giving us insight to other characters as well and what their fates became. It was an "okay" book overall.
The ending was cute, as it finally gave a happily every after, as well as giving us insight to other characters as well and what their fates became. It was an "okay" book overall.
August 12, 2019
A good story
Chinese historical fiction reveals the brutality of women's lives in China, where their existence is treacherous without a family of husband for protection. Spring Swallow, the heroine of this story, is no exception. Her many perils lead her to happiness in the end. The theme of embroidery, depicting the lives of skilled artists, is fascinating. The characters are well developed. I'm a fan of Ms. Yip.
Chinese historical fiction reveals the brutality of women's lives in China, where their existence is treacherous without a family of husband for protection. Spring Swallow, the heroine of this story, is no exception. Her many perils lead her to happiness in the end. The theme of embroidery, depicting the lives of skilled artists, is fascinating. The characters are well developed. I'm a fan of Ms. Yip.
May 18, 2019
Passable
The more I read of this book the more I thought it was a translation from Chinese to English. Some parts used very unpalatable words which did not gel with the rest of the writing. Perhaps they were used to help sell to western readers - but I would have preferred the writing to have been more modest as in keeping with the rest of the book.
The more I read of this book the more I thought it was a translation from Chinese to English. Some parts used very unpalatable words which did not gel with the rest of the writing. Perhaps they were used to help sell to western readers - but I would have preferred the writing to have been more modest as in keeping with the rest of the book.
November 30, 2019
Most books have a distinct arc within the storytelling- a buildup, climax, then wrap up
This book did not: the plot kept throwing out twists and turns- much like real life. The history was fascinating, the characters slightly larger than life but still believable.
Very refreshing read despite the incessant sorrows and troubles each girl faced.
This book did not: the plot kept throwing out twists and turns- much like real life. The history was fascinating, the characters slightly larger than life but still believable.
Very refreshing read despite the incessant sorrows and troubles each girl faced.
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