Review: All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson

Title: All the Flowers in Shanghai

Author: Duncan Jepson

Rating:

Who Should Read It? If you like books about China, I'd say this book is a must. Do yourself a favor, though, and don't read most of the reviews out there. After write mine, I went and read a couple, and they are just FILLED with things you don't need to know before going into it. If you're into China, or just books about China like I am, I'd head over to pick yourself up a copy as soon as possible!

What I Have to Say:
While I've never really had all that much interest in China (I've always been more of a Japan girl), I have this weird fascination with books about China. I LOVE reading about Chinese history and Red China and Mao Tse Tung and foot binding and, well, if it involves Chinese history in any way, I want to, have to read it! So I of course jumped at the opportunity to review Duncan Jesper's first novel, All the Flowers in Shanghai.

And mostly, I wasn't disappointed. This story, written in letter format, is the tragic tale of a Chinese woman, Xiao Feng, whose life, via some pretty unexpected circumstances, takes a turn for the worse and doesn't go according to plan. At all. It's about the choices, both bad and good, that she makes throughout her life, and how they affect her. It's about how the communist regime swept in and affected the priveleged before they could even notice a change, and thus the story of how communism changes Xiao Feng and causes her to look back on her choices.

This book takes a close look at all of the good, the bad, and the ugly that was China in between the times of foot binding and communism. It's a passionate story of hate and learning what love is, the love between a mother and daughter, between a mother and son. But it's also a tragic story of things lost forever due to bad choices and heart-wrenching sacrifices. It is beautifully written and will warm your heart while at the same time making it feel somewhat icy cold.

The thing I liked most about this book was that, from the beginning to the end, it took me places that I wasn't expecting to go. And it's to the point story-telling allowed me to catch a real glimpse of what life must have been like for elite women in China, whose sole purpose, it seems, was to have an heir. The prose was simple, but the imagery of lifestyle was vivid, and nothing was spared.

What I didn't like so much was the lack of vividity in the descriptions. In a sense, it was fitting. The story was written in the form of a letter, and what Xiao Feng was seeing was, without a doubt, dulled by her life experiences. However, she was also surrounded by so much beauty, and I felt like Jepson's descriptive pose didn't really give that beauty the justice that it deserved. I would have liked to see a little bit more intricacy of description.

Also, because it was written as a letter, we only got the point of view of Xiao Feng. Sometimes, this work, but I feel like, in this case, the letter format occasionally led to some awkward phrasings and unnecessary side-notes that came out of nowhere and didn't really fit. I also felt like All the Flowers in Shanghai could have really benefited from multiple perspectives. As opposed to taking away from or changing Xiao Feng's story, I felt like it would have really added some heavy emotion to understand what the people around her were thinking.

All in all, a wonderful read that I definitely recommend. You won't be disappointed by this touching story of Xiao Feng, a woman trying to reconcile her past and move forward despite the bad choices that she made in the past.

Summary:
All the Flowers in Shanghai is Jepson's stunning debut novel. Set in 1930s Shanghai,the Paris of the East, but where following the path of duty still takes precedence over personal desires, a young Chinese woman named Feng finds herself in an arranged marriage to a wealthy businessman. In the enclosed world of her new household-a place of public ceremony and private cruelty-she learns that, above all else, she must bear a male heir. Ruthless and embittered by the life that has been forced on her, Feng seeks revenge by doing the unthinkable. Years later, she must come to a reckoning with the decisions she has made to assure her place in family and society, before the entire country is caught up in the fast-flowing tide of revolution.

Cover Story: I have seen pretty much this EXACT cover WAY too many times - apparently all books about China need to have a beautiful Chinese lady in a sarong on the cover. Don't get me wrong, I like the cover, and if I saw it in a store, that would be enough to make me want to read the book, but I just feel like. . .eh, it's not very special.

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me for review by William Morrow. This in no way affected my review.

Double Review: Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

Title: Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy

Author: Lisa See

Rating:

Who Should Read It?
Lisa See is a gifted author, it's just a fact, and Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy are no exception. If you've ever been won over by Lisa See in the past, definitely check these books out. If you have any interest in Asian history, these books are for you.

What I Have to Say:

First of all, I went back and forth as to do this as a double review or to review them separately. Dreams of Joy, while being the sequel to Shanghai Girls, is also, fundamentally, a totally different story. Shanghai Girls is the story of sisters. Sisters leading a privileged life, growing up together in China, and then clinging to each other when everything starts to go wrong, in their lives and in China, and they have no one else. Dreams of Joy is the story of a twisted relationship between a "mother" trying to raise her daughter to be a good Chinese girl in America. Shanghai Girls is the story of China, while Dreams of Joy is the story of China in America.

Really, these two books are both so beautifully written and poignantly touching that they deserve their own separate reviews. But after reading Shanghai Girls, I was so enthralled by the story of these two sisters that I immediately picked up Dreams of Joy and just kept reading. I couldn't stop. As such, they're so tangled in my head that they're practically the same book, and I wouldn't even know how to separate them for a review.

So, in order to not give anything from the second away while writing about the first, I will stick to feelings. I cried, I laughed, I was horrified, I was disgusted, I was overwhelmed by beauty, I was annoyed. . .I can't think of any feeling I didn't feel. To summarize - I was moved.

Lisa see has written about the plight of China and of Chinese Americans during (and before) World War II in a vivid, heart-capturing way. Shanghai Girls becomes one of those books that you literally CAN'T put down - the story will be twisting around so much in your head that you'll find you have to pick it back up.

And then, it has no ending. Whatsoever. If I hadn't had Dreams of Joy right on hand, I think I would have been annoyed. But because I did, I was able to smoothly transition into the rest of the story, and I wasn't as disappointed. The story of mother and daughter was just as well-written and beautifully touching as the drama-filled yet loving relationship of two sisters.

I loved these books, and they are totally deserving of the 5 stars I've given them. Only as a pair, though. They need each other. And despite them being so deserving, it was still hard to give them 5 stars, because, as wonderful and as readable as they were, they were still now "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan."

Summary: Shanghai Girls: May and Pearl, two sisters living in Shanghai in the mid-1930s, are beautiful, sophisticated, and well-educated, but their family is on the verge of bankruptcy. Hoping to improve their social standing, May and Pearl’s parents arrange for their daughters to marry “Gold Mountain men” who have come from Los Angeles to find brides.

But when the sisters leave China and arrive at Angel’s Island (the Ellis Island of the West)--where they are detained, interrogated, and humiliated for months--they feel the harsh reality of leaving home. And when May discovers she’s pregnant the situation becomes even more desperate. The sisters make a pact that no one can ever know.

A novel about two sisters, two cultures, and the struggle to find a new life in America while bound to the old, Shanghai Girls is a fresh, fascinating adventure from beloved and bestselling author Lisa See.

Dreams of Joy: In her beloved New York Times bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls, Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy.

Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime.

Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives.

Acclaimed for her richly drawn characters and vivid storytelling, Lisa See once again renders a family challenged by tragedy and time, yet ultimately united by the resilience of love.

Cover Story: They're perfect. Both of the covers for both of the books are perfect. And that is all.

These books were sent to me for free, but this in no way affected my review.