Shanghai Girls

Lisa See is an American author who looks like she could never understand the hardships she writes about in Shanghai Girls, her newest novel released in May 2009. In fact, after reading Girls I was surprised to look at the back cover and see someone who looked as Caucasian as I; but Ms. See is of Chinese decent, and her family has very much lived many of the events discussed in this book. I felt awful making such assumptions that just because she didn't look Chinese, doesn't mean she wasn't or that she didn't truly understand what she was writing about. That lesson is taught in the book and you think I would've caught it then, if not before. So shame on me for my assumptions, and thank you Lisa for this great book and all of your knowledge!

Shanghai girls is about the life of a pair of sisters as they make their way through wars, immigration, working, stereotypes, fear, death, trauma, happiness and every other possible event or emotion one could feel. It’s a quick read, its an easy to follow read but it is an engaging read and you just can’t put it down.

I had originally checked it out as an audio book. Thinking it sounded good but not something I would get around to reading soon, so I put it in the truck. Well, it was so engaging I checked out the book because I can read faster than it is read to me. I was so engrossed in it that I still kept the audio book in the truck, skipping to where I’d finished reading and then when I got home I could skip forward the pages I had listened to.

What I admired about the book was that there were inconsistencies-and when thinking about them, I realize they were intentional. They were used to make the reader think and realize the struggle these “beautiful girls” went through and the decisions made.

I had a few moments where I, yet again, realized how much a person can learn from reading fiction. As an example, there were moments in the book involving Chinese gods and traditions that I was really to appreciate for the moments they were instead of being curious as to their roles in the culture and what these gods represented, etc. I knew this because only a few months ago I had read Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife where I had read about the gods who were a large part of the novel.

I didn’t like the ending at all. It felt like the beginning of a series. I understand why it ended that way-the story isn’t about the daughter, its about the sisters. But I still didn’t have finality. There is still so much they are about to experience as sisters which is just as important as the other stories and struggles and messages we experience in the book.

In addition to this book I have discovered Lisa See is amazingly informative on the Chinese culture in California and specifically Los Angeles and Hollywood. In addition, her Facebook page includes a lot of two way communication on the topic. I have gathered that this is where part of her family settled when they came to North America and that they were a large part of "China Town" in Los Angeles. I was very surprised at the wealth of knowledge evident on both her website and her Facebook page. I wish more authors were like that.