Dreams of Joy (Shanghai Girls, #2) in Ask Lisa See!

Mar 26, 2022 Anna rated it it was amazing

I have had this book on my shelves for many years and had not read it. I loved Shanghai Girls so I don't know why this one got shoved to the bottom of the reading pile . . .

It was a powerful story. May and Pearl were the two Shanghai girls of the previous book. May gave birth to Joy, but Pearl raised the baby girl as her own. Joy knew May as her aunt and Pearl as her mother. When the truth of her birth parents is revealed to her, Joy flees Los Angeles and gets into China, which is about at the t ...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Lisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-novel

After reading Shanghai Girls, I had been anxiously awaiting Dreams of Joy to see what happens to the three main characters May, Pearl, and Joy after the tumultous ending in the first book. I felt that from a historical perspective, the second book was even more interesting. It gave a lot more information about the events and life in China during a time when this country was closed off to Americans because of both Chinese and American propaganda during the Cold War. Lisa does this so well through ...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Janet rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I absolutely fell in love with this book and its prequel "Shanghai Girls"! The two novels must be read consecutively because they're really one continuous story of women of two generations spanning across two vastly different eras and geographies. I actually gave Dreams of Joy an extra star because Shanghai Girls was incomplete without it.

My review of Shanghai Girls focuses more on the socio-political backdrop of the novel and how Lisa See brilliantly takes the reader from 1930’s Shanghai at th I absolutely fell in love with this book and its prequel "Shanghai Girls"! The two novels must be read consecutively because they're really one continuous story of women of two generations spanning across two vastly different eras and geographies. I actually gave Dreams of Joy an extra star because Shanghai Girls was incomplete without it.

My review of Shanghai Girls focuses more on the socio-political backdrop of the novel and how Lisa See brilliantly takes the reader from 1930’s Shanghai at the height of its prosperity to humble beginnings of Chinatown in the U.S. In contrast, Dreams of Joy takes place entirely in China post WWII and the Communist takeover. This historical fiction zeros in on the Great Leap Forward, one of Mao Zedong’s various criminal policies that cost 45 million Chinese lives (2x as during Japanese occupation). Lisa’s depiction of the horrific famine in rural China that led to cannibalism within families was bone chilling. You’ve heard of similar stories before, i.e. Nothing to Envy, a collection of North Korean memoirs from the 80’s by Barbara Demick. However, Lisa was able to make these poor souls you’ve read or heard about come alive through her character Joy and her personal suffering. I think this book is about much more than the surface level emotions related to family, love and motherhood.

It’s about a nationalistic Chinese American who returns to China at the call of Mao’s communist movement to rebuild China, as many Chinese Americans did in the 50's for the love of their country - Ai Guo Zhu Yi – only to witness the most utter betrayal of the Communist ideals she believed in and the Chinese people. This is one of my favorite books although I’m still torn between loving or hating the ending. It's unrealistic to say the least, but I'm also a sucker for happy endings. I felt that it would’ve been more powerful if at least one of the characters you’ve come to love had sacrificed his or her life in order for the rest of the family to escape as that was what many families did for each other in order to get out of China before it headed straight into Cultural Revolution.

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Sep 28, 2011 Michelle Wegner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction

It's not too often that I'm left speechless after reading a novel. Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy have left me speechless. I am ashamed of my ignorance about what happened during "The Great Leap Forward" in China in the 1950's. I learned so much from these books about China, the Chinese way of life, and the way so many millions suffered there during that terrible period.

Lisa See did a phenomenal job of weaving the historical story of China into a brilliant, interesting story of one family, the ...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Kathee rated it it was amazing

Lisa See did a good job of writing in the voice of a mom, Pearl, who knows the ways of China and the reality of the Cultural Revolution and her daughter, Joy, who only thinks she knows the truth. I wish, when I heard Lisa speak about this book, I had already read it so I could have asked her about her research. I don't imagine anyone she might have spoken to in China would have been very forthcoming about the hardships endured by the people during Mao's reign. Seems it was a terrifying time. ...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Chrystal rated it really liked it

In her most powerful novel yet, Lisa See returns to the timeless themes of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. She continues the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl's strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy. Dreams of Joy provides a glimpse of the cold, cruel damage to the humanity of people that was caused by war and the Communist regime in China in the late 1950s. In this segment the return to Shanghai shows the Paris of Asia, may have been lost for ...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Elizabeth rated it really liked it

I have enjoyed all of Lisa See's books that i have read, I think this one the most! ...more

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Jun 04, 2011 Clara rated it it was amazing

Another masterpiece by my sister! No, seriously, it's a great book. xoxo ...more

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May 21, 2011 Beth Lunsford rated it it was amazing

It took me a while to get into this Lisa See book. I usually read them quickly. I read Shanghai Girls prob 2 years ago, but the book catches you up in the first chapter or two.

I knew nothing of the Great Leap Forward, a sad chapter in China's history.

Well worth reading, but not quite as good as Shanghai Girls or Snow Flower. ...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Lesley rated it it was amazing

Really liked this book. This story picks up where Shanghai Girls leaves off. Lisa See does a great job wrapping up the story of Pearl, May and Joy. Many surprises and a great ending.

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Jul 27, 2011 Nicole rated it really liked it

Amazing story of a Chinese American girl who runs away to China in 1959...fascinating to see a progression through "Red China" from characters you "grew up with" in Shanghai Girls. ...more

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