Shanghai Girls

This is the first Lisa See book I have read, but I have heard such great things about her and her books. This was a chance reading because the book was on sale at Amazon for the Kindle; otherwise, I probably wouldn't have read it. It was certainly worth the sale price, and I'm even going to purchase the more expensive sequel.

I like long and complex sentences in my fiction, but this book didn't really have those. Nor were there long descriptions of fluff; everything served the purpose of moving the plot along, almost to the point of feeling choppy. Thankfully, the plot is excellent. The story of these two women is emotional, uplifting, saddening, heartbreaking.

There are some obvious parallels I think to the current immigration situation here in the US, and also to how we Americans perceive and stereotype people from a country as foreign to us as China. Not only did I learn a great deal about China right before WWII, but I learned more about myself as well. It's a good thing when a book encourages me to ponder my own life.

I love reading about non-Western culture, and this book is an easy read yet full of complicated themes – hopefully I'll be reading more See in the near future!