SHANGHAI GIRLS

SHANGHAI GIRLS
Author: Lisa See
Copyright 2009
Random House
ISBN: 978-1-4000-6711-4
eBook ISBN 978-1-5883-6860-7
Hardcover $25.00
315 pages
Fiction, Chinese, Immigrants, Family Secrets

Most of us have heard the old adage about walking in another person’s shoes. That’s exactly what you feel when you read any novel written by Lisa See.
Living in Shanghai just prior to World War II was not an easy life with the Japanese beginning the invasion and take-over of China. Life for Pearl and May though, is fairly simple. They spend their days sleeping and their nights being models for an artist. While many inhabitants lived a life of poverty and day-to-day survival, these two are living a life where the priorities are around their wardrobes and their daily appearance. Being their father manages a rickshaw business, they live a life of luxury.
All that changes when their father informs both girls of their upcoming marriages due to his financial problems with his gambling debts. Reluctantly, the girls marry their prospective husbands and plan to leave their home to live with their new family in America. During this transition time, the husbands go back to the Los Angeles area taking their wives clothes with them. This insures that the daughters, now wives, will follow their wardrobe. The daughters decide to skip out on the husbands. Unfortunately, it is at this time that the Japanese decide to invade China and Shanghai is one of the first occupied cities.
This story centers on their life then of survival and the trials of living in an enemy occupied area. The entire city is also invaded by the neighboring rural areas, as well as the soldiers. Overcrowding, no obvious local leadership, no money, no food, are all problems and in a constant competition with the victor surviving.
The characters are the strengths in all of Lisa See’s books. You feel that you would know either Pearl or May by sight. You understand their choices and their reasoning. Each one is unique and as a reader, you really know each character as if they were a member of your family. The personal voice of each one is distinct and carries each person through their personal trials.
I do have one complaint though about SHANGHAI GIRLS. It is the ending. Personally, I prefer a complete conclusion rather than an open-ended or possibly a continuous one. I feel cheated when the book does not completely tie up all the loose ends. SHANGHAI GIRLS could easily be the first book in a series with Pearl and May.
With that said, I am anxiously awaiting Lisa See’s next novel. She is one of my favorite authors and I have read all her previous books.
Lisa See was born in Paris but actually spent most of her life in Los Angeles. ON GOLD MOUNTAIN relives her great-grandfather’s experiences from China to America. She has also written FLOWER NET, THE INTERIOR, DRAGON BONES, SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN, and PEONY IN LOVE. Her books tell the stories of people, like herself, who were immigrants and/or bi-racial.
Her viewpoints are openly honest, but also thoughtful and intelligent. Her books always make me wonder more about other people and their beliefs that are common to all of us.



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By: Teri Davis July 27, 2009

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