From the Bookshelf of Mineola Library's 2012 FALL Reading Challenge…
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What Members Thought
I found this book to be overly long and boring. Pearl and May are 2 beautiful and very selfcentered sisters in Shanghai around 1939. Their father loses all of his money gambling and sells them to 2 brothers as wives. The story takes them through the Japanese invasion of Shanghai and their escape to Los Angeles, which is probably the most interesting aspect of the book. After that the story goes back to being boring and predictable. I anticipated all of the so called shocking twists and frankly b
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Here's the story of two girls just starting to live their lives in old China. They are caught between tradition and wanting to live modern lives. How their fate is played out over twenty years and two countries makes for a great story.
I especially liked how the traditions and customs were shown and how the conflict of change affected those things.
It was also amazing how similar their lives were in both countries. How women were still second class in their culture and yet, they were the ones that ...more
I especially liked how the traditions and customs were shown and how the conflict of change affected those things.
It was also amazing how similar their lives were in both countries. How women were still second class in their culture and yet, they were the ones that ...more
I learned a lot with this novel... facts on Angel Island, Japan's invasion in China, and Chinese culture. Lisa See's descriptions are very detailed. Many of the details are graphic, bringing all the senses to life.
The two sisters, Pearl & May, are always close, even though there are deep-seated jealousies. They are forced to flee their homeland when war breaks out. From there the journey to America isn’t an easy trip. I think the fact that they had no other living relatives brought them even cl ...more
The two sisters, Pearl & May, are always close, even though there are deep-seated jealousies. They are forced to flee their homeland when war breaks out. From there the journey to America isn’t an easy trip. I think the fact that they had no other living relatives brought them even cl ...more
Aug 12, 2009
Wanda Baldridge
added it
