Customer Reviews

Shanghai Girls

5 star:		(170)
4 star:		(133)
3 star:		(59)
2 star:		(37)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I'm a fan of Lisa See's two earlier novels, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" and "Peony in Love", both of which were set in 19th and 17th century China respectively. In "Shanghai Girls", the author moves the setting of the novel to Shanghai and later to the US. Lisa See paints a vivid portrait of life in pre-World War II Shanghai and takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through the Japanese invasion of China and its aftermath.

The protagonists in this novel are two sisters - Pearl and May. Pearl is the older sister, born in the auspicious Year of the Dragon, yet frowned upon by her Baba [father] who dislikes her tall appearance. Pearl is also educated, having completed college, and is proficient in a few languages and dialects. In contrast, younger sister May, born in the Year of the Sheep, is shorter yet lovely, and has only managed to complete high school. Yet, for all Pearl's accomplishments, it is May that is the apple of her parent's eyes, and uses this partiality to her advantage. Both sisters live a life of privilege, yet they work as 'beautiful girls' posing for pictures used in ads and posters and earn a good living. This may appear surprising given their parent's conservative outlook [the girls' mother has bound feet], yet not altogether strange as later events bring to light the family's dire financial straits.

When the girls are told their father has huge debts and has decided to marry them off to a pair of brothers, Gold Mountain Men residing in LA [men who have left China to go to America to seek their fortunes, returning to find China Brides], they realize their days of freedom are over and decide to revolt. Unfortunately, the Japanese invasion of Shanghai puts an end to any of their plans. Fleeing the Japanese is not without its horrors and ultimately Pearl and May find themselves alone except for one another.

Even after leaving China, the pair find their situation is still dire as upon arrival in the United States, Pearl and May are detained on Angel's Island for months undergoing untold suffering. They finally meet their 'spouses' but life for the sisters still has many trials in store, and a secret shared between them threatens their future.

"Shanghai Girls" is a well-woven narrative that flows well and Lisa See credibly evokes the bond between two sisters, whose love for one another is strong, yet also fraught by rivalries. This is not just a story about siblings for it is also about the clash between East and West as the sisters struggle to find their footing in a new world, even as the bonds of their old world remain strong. Lisa See is truly a gifted author for being able to portray both the old world of 17th and 19th century China [as seen in Peony and Snow Flower] and the new as seen in "Shanghai Girls". Final verdict: a compelling read.

I do not understand why gifted authors occasionally butcher what would otherwise be fantastic novels. Lisa See's "Shanghai Girls" starts off a bit slower than "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," but I quickly became wrapped up in the tale of two sisters, May and Pearl, who work as beautiful girls (a.k.a. calendar models) in Shanghai, China, until their father goes bankrupt and decides to sell his daughters into arranged marriages with American husbands. Tragedy quickly befalls the girls, who flee war-stricken China and embark on a dangerous journey to America, where they struggle to build new lives for themselves and keep a dark secret buried from the people closest to them.

This is a wonderful book filled with dynamic history and rich characters. I was completely smitten with the novel and especially appreciated the way the author portrayed the iron-strong sisterly bond between Pearl and May. However, the book has no ending! I was all excited and worried about what was happening at the end of the book, and I turned the page eager to find out what would happen next, and I was stunned to be face to face with the author's acknowledgements! What a huge disappointment. I would have given this book five stars if not for that horrible lack of an ending. Lisa See better be busy writing a sequel to this book, or else I will remain seriously pissed off for a long time.

I was tired when I finished the book. It was one of those where I had to stay up one night to finish it because when I tried to put it down, the story kept turning over in my head. I had an honest like and dislike for some of the characters. I do have to admit that part of me kept wondering what else could go wrong as the story progressed.

The most striking thing about this book was that it is the first time that I, as an African-American, could feel the effects of discrimination against another people. The author is able to really make you feel what the characters feel. Additional kudos goes to the author for illustrating how dangerous it is to see things from only one point of view. Ever story has at least two sides.

Aside from wondering how much more hardship could possibly befall the family, I found the book to be an excellent read. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a challenging read.

I felt I had a duty to finish this advance copy in order to write an honest review about the novel. I can't say that it was pulling teeth to finish it. But I can't say that I would have finished it if I had simply checked it out of the library and had no obligation to review it on Amazon.

The writing is meh. You'll find that the author's major lacking is in the use of descriptors and imagery. While there was plenty of opportunity--from the Chinese cooking, to the sights of Shanghai, to the horrors of war and the trauma of rape, to the physical beauty of the women subjects--the author's descriptions could have been far more vivid and compelling than they actually were. The plot was not bad, but it was somewhat predictable. The flow of the story actually picked up a great deal towards the last 1/2 of the book, and towards the end, I was reading at a rapid clip b/c of the suspense. Unfortunately, the book ends with a pretty major cliffhanger, so it's obvious that the author probably has a sequel in mind for these characters.

If you want a better read on life in China during the pre-war period, I highly recommend Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking which is compelling and heart-wrenching. If you want a great read on mother-daughter and sisterly relationships in the context of intergenerational and intercultural American-Chinese differences, I would greatly recommend just about anything by Amy Tan, whose characters and their relationships are so vividly narrated and rich, that I am often convinced that she is writing about my own Chinese mother and myself (a first generation Asian American woman). I particularly recommend Tan's The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Bonesetter's Daughter. Between Tan and Chang, I'm not entirely sure that Lisa See has a lot to offer a reader that's much different or better.

Nevertheless, one can see that a great deal of research and personal interviews went into the making of the novel, and it comes off as fairly genuine and well-conceived. I do also really like the author's angle of living as an illegal Chinese or even as a Chinese-American during the post-war Red Scare in the United States. I only wish that the narrative was more fleshed out.

The ending to a book can really ruin the story for me. I need things wrapped in a pretty little bow. This book had no bow. I realize the author left it open because there will obviously be a sequel to this book, but it feels like she met some pre-determined word count and just ended it. Too much of a cliffhanger and not enough closure. I think it was a bad choice (having said that, I will be reading the sequel for sure so I guess the author had her reasons, eh?)

The book is beautifully written. What I like about it the most is that it's a story with some history sprinkled in, it's not history with a story mixed in. I learned a few things about this era, but the biggest part of the book was dedicated to telling Pearl and May's story. I have to say that I didn't really like the characters at times, they seemed a little shallow and unbelievable. My favorite character, Sam (one of their husbands), was a secondary character and I felt more for him than the girls.

While the book was long, I felt there could have been deeper descriptions of the area, the dress, the people. It felt sometimes a little surface-writing like. It is evident that the author has a beautiful writing style, I like the way the words flow, I just wanted some more description in there.

I liked 99.9% of this book. I would venture to say I loved it, actually. But the ending ruined it for me. I seem to run into this more often, an abrupt and rude ending in books. It's really starting to be this odd trend. Readers have spent hours reading and absorbing the text, we need that big payoff at the end.

Definitely read this one, but just be prepared to wait to hear the end of story until the next book comes out.

SHANGHAI GIRLS

With every turn of my head, I would see this book! On the computer -- at the library -- in magazines -- at bookstores -- I finally decied to see what all of the hoop-la was about and picked it up at the library.

WOW! Just absolutely WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!

We meet two sisters, Pearl and May, from Shanghai. It's the l930's and these two sisters are modern Chinese girls. Their parents are old school; their word is LAW. Their mother even has the age-old tradition of bound feet.

Pearl and May model and are known as 'beautiful girls'. Their pictures adorn calendars and posters. They live a privileged and charmed life. They have many clothes, purses, lots of make-up, a nice home, all the food they can eat and are pretty much able to party and do what they please. Maybe they are spoiled? Yes, they really are!

Suddenly, their wonderful world comes crashing down around them. Their father has done a horrible injustice and has 'arranged' marriages for them. To make matters worse, their father is not the business man they thought he was. He is deeply indebted to some evil people. And to add salt to their wounds, Japan is invading China. The world as Pearl and May know it is crashing down around them -- literally.

They make a harrowing escape from China Their journey is by foot and boat and is filled with agony, despair, and troubles. The sisters stick together through thick and thin. Somehow, they survive and end up in America.

Getting into America is a long process, but they prevail. Life in America is not what they had dreamed, heard of, or thought it would be like. Life is hard and back-breaking.

The sisters hook up with some people they know and their story continues. We travel with Pearl and May through the next twenty years. I do not want to spoil anyone's reading experience and adventures by giving away any information of what happens to these lovely ladies during this time period.

I can tell you this about this superb book. It was fantastic! It was awesome! The action NEVER stops -- NEVER. I didn't even try to figure out what was going to happen to Pearl and May next, I just was kept in total suspense, totally absorbed by the written word.

This is a MUST read for anyone who enjoys a story about family and family values. This is a MUST read for any history buff. The amount of research Ms. See put into this book is remarkable. I learned more about history during this time period than I ever did in school. This is a MUST read for anyone who enjoys a good historical novel filled with wonderful characters, mind-boggling events, action, and heart-warming love and strength.

This book is highly recommended. I am thinking there may be a sequel; seems to me it is very possible.

Thank you!!

Pam

I read this book in virtually a day and have to admit it was compelling. But right from the start I had a sense I was reading something I'd read before. Whether this was due to an overdose of Pearl S. Buck as a child or my fascination with WW2 in junior high, all the war scenes were old. Perhaps it was due to the author's rather flat description, as another reviewer has mentioned; nothing especially came to life. A fresh use of words can redeem even old stories.

The second half -- well. It had the compelling nature of a trainwreck. I suspected the big revelation of the ending as early as the second chapter, which perhaps was due to author intention. But the lame plotting of the second part, especially the rushed ending, made me wonder.

Finally, the author was big on telling, not showing. Narrator statements of "I was angry" could have been taken care of by having her SAY something angry. The loving sister relationship seemed anything but. I had big hopes for this at the start, big disappointment at the end. Will I try another Lisa See book? Problematical.

I was really looking forward to this book and really wanted to enjoy it but I did not. This book was EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING! The writing is very cliche with over-emphasized themes of sisterhood. I wanted to stop reading the book in the beginning after reading quotes like,

"All May and I have left is each other. After everything we've been through, our tie is so strong that not even a sharp knife could sever it. All we can do now is continue down the road we're on, wherever it takes us."

I'm sorry, but this sounds like something two teenage girls would say after a break-up. But, I gave the book a chance and finished it. Not only does the writing continue to piss me off, but the story is totally outrageous. The two sister's characters are very unlikable and even with all the author's affirmations that they are the closest sisters who love each other, their actions towards one another show otherwise. There is absolutely no redeeming quality to the story. The storyline just keeps going downhill with tragedy after tragedy and leaves the ending as a cliffhanger. As if people really want to read another book about these unlikeable fake sisters?!

The only positive quality of the book is its detailed historical accuracy of the Chinese community in LA. Lisa See obviously has done a lot of research in this area and it shows in the book.

When I started reading "Shanghai Girls," I was happy to find that it more resembles Lisa See's "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" than "Peony in Love." The story follows two sisters from Shanghai as they are forced into marriages that they try to escape. Once Japan invades China, the sisters are forced to leave everything behind and risk their lives to get to America and the husbands they barely know. Once they reach America, they face a very different life than they expected. The story is at times brutal, and at times beautiful. Set against the changing feelings toward Chinese Americans during WWII and then the rise of communism in China, "Shanghai Girls" follows the sister through family and political changes, tragedies and fortune. Very enjoyable.

I am a huge fan of Lisa See's novels and anxiously awaited the release of this book. I was very disappointed in it, however. While it was well-researched and gives the reader an opportunity to learn of the experience of being a Chinese immigrant to the US in the 30s, the actual story line drones on and on with one wrenching scene after another. Somehow, it all begins to feel a bit repetitious. I read the book through ~ hoping it would get better ~ but I was actually relieved when I finished this book. If you are a Lisa See fan, too, then you should probably read this book. However, if you haven't yet read one of her books, then you should probably start somewhere else. I'll look forward to the next one in hopes that she returns to her former excellence.