Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Hello my lovelies, I apologize for the long absence, I have been majorly sick lately and it has taken a lot out of me!  But I am back to normal with a new review for you of a book that I simply fell in love with.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is set in 19th century China, and follows the story of two girls from different towns; everything about them is the same except for social status, but they are still matched together to become life long friends with the understanding that nothing will come between them, nor will they become close friends with anyone else.  Their bond is supposed to be stronger than that of a husband and wife.  They share secrets through a "woman's language" written on a fan.  These two share everything from their foot binding to marriage, childbirth, and even death.  The girls discover what it means to stand by one another through trials, tribulations, heartache, joyous moments, and betrayal.

This was my first book from Lisa See, as well as in this genre, the cover just drew me in and then when I read the blurb I thought: "lets give it a shot".  I was greatly surprised and happy that I did step outside of  my comfort zone to read this book.  I found myself getting invested in the friendship of these two girls all the while learning some of the cultural aspects of the setting such as the foot binding process.  That part may have made me cringe a little bit just thinking about what has to happen to make the feet smaller. 

Lisa writes beautifully and develops her characters into complex people that readers are longer for more from.  I know I wanted more from Lily and Snow Flower.  Nothing about the book was predictable and I felt like I was in a state of suspense at different moments such as when as adults the women fled from their towns.  I almost want another book along the same story, but through Snow Flower's eyes rather than Lily's.  We don't get to see much of her side of the friendship other than what Lily tells us.  I couldn't wait to see what would happen next to them, I read through this one rather quickly and want more from Lisa See.

If you are looking for a great chick-lit book or something along the lines of Amy Tan then this is a great book for you to pick and read.  I give it a 5 out of 5.  Fantastic and I will be looking for more books from Lisa See.