Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Infobox Book |
name = Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
author = Lisa See
cover_artist =
country = US
language = English
genre = Novel
publisher = Random House, Inc.
release_date = 2005
media_type =
pages =
isbn =
preceded_by = Dragon Bones
followed_by = Peony in Love

"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, " a novel by Lisa See (2005), is set in China in the 1800s. In her introduction to the novel, See writes that Lily, the narrator, was born in 1823 -- "the third year of Emperor Daoguangs reign" [ Lisa See, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan". New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks (2006)] . The novel begins in 1903, when Lily is 80 years old. During her lifetime, Lily lives through the reigns of four emperors: Emperor Daoguang (1820-1850); Emperor Xianfeng (1850-1861); Emperor Tongzhi (1861-1875); and Emperor Guangxu (1875-1908).

Lily and Snow Flower are a "laotong" pair [ [http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/07/27/novels_powerful_prose_brings_history_to_life?mode=PF Clea Simon. "Novel's Powerful Prose Brings History to Life." "Boston Globe", 07/27/2005] ] , related more closely than husband and wife. Lily's Aunt describes a laotong match this way: "'A "laotong" relationship is made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity. A marriage is not made by choice and has only one purpose -- to have sons.'" [ "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", p. 43 ]

The two girls are also bound together by experiencing the painful process of foot binding at the same time. "See's description of this process -- from the first wrapping and pain through the horrible shock of softened, pressured bones snapping -- is as graphic as if she's lived it" [ Clea Simon] .

Susan Kelly writes: "The secret fan of the title provides the folds in which the girls write to each other in Nü Shu, the secret phonetic 'women's writing' used by women in Hunan Province to communicate with each other" [ [http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2005-07-13-snow-flower-review_x.htm "Snow Flower" Unfolds Secrets." "USA Today", 07/13/2005] ] . See comments on Nü Shu in her brief introduction to the novel: "It is believed that Nü Shu . . . developed a thousand years ago. It appears to be the only written language in the world to have been created by women exclusively for their own use" ["Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" ] . In addition to the language itself, the young women learn Nü Shu songs and stories.

Although both friends are born under the sign of the horse [Chinese Astrology] , they are quite different. Lily is practical, her feet firmly set on the ground, while Snow Flower is a flying horse that attempts to fly over the constrictions of women's life in the 19th century in order to be free. Their lives differ as well. Although Lily comes from a family of relatively low station, her beautiful feet play a role in her marriage into the most powerful family in the region. Lily ends up as Lady Lu, the region's most influential woman. Snow Flower is not so fortunate. She marries a butcher and has a miserable life filled with children dying and brutal beatings at the hand of her husband.

The novel depicts human suffering in many ways: the physical and psychological pain of foot binding; the suffering of women of the time, who were treated as property; the terrible trek up the mountains to escape from the horrors of the Taiping Revolution; the painful return back down the mountain trail with dead bodies everywhere. Some estimate that the number of people killed during the Revolution was approximately 20 million [Taiping Revolution] .

And most all, there is detailed treatment of the suffering which Lily and Snow Flower experience in their laotong relationship. Lily’s need for love and her inability to forgive what she considers to be acts of betrayal cause her to inflict harm on many people, Snow Flower most of all. Believing that Snow Flower has not been true to her, Lily betrays her by sharing all her private secrets to a group of women, virtually destroying Snow Flower's reputation. When Snow Flower is dying, Lily is called to her bedside and tends to her until the end.

As the book returns to the present (1903), Lily is an 80 year old woman who has lived 40 years after her friend's death. Lily’s final words indicate that her love for Snow Flower remains: “But if the dead continue to have the needs and desires of the living, then I’m reaching out to Snow Flower and the others who witnessed it all. Please hear my words. Please forgive me.” ["Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", p. 253.]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/17/Books/Bound_women_in_charge.shtml Ellen Emry Heltzel. "Bound Women in Charge." "St. Petersburgh Times", 07/17/2005] .
* [http://www.washtimes.com/news/2005/sep/10/20050910-110431-7338r/ Claire Hopley. "A Wealthy Woman's Life in China Not So Long Ago." Washington Times. 09/11/2005.]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2005-07-13-snow-flower-review_x.htm Susan Kelley. "Snow Flower" Unfolds Secrets." "USA Today", 07/13/2005.]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8966942&sc=emaf Lousa Lim. "Painful Memories for China's Footbinding Survivors] .
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06EFDF123EF936A2575BC0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 Janet Maslin. "Books of the Times; 2 Women Cling in a Culture of Bound Feet." "New York Times", 08/15/2005]
* [http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c473.shtml "Nu Shu: A Hidden Language of Women in China". A film by Yue-Qing Yang. "Women Make Movies"] .
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/03/RVGK1DD7131.DTL&type=printable Sara Payton. "Bound by Oppression and a Secret Tongue." "San Francisco Chronicle", 07/03/2005] .
* [http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/07/27/novels_powerful_prose_brings_history_to_life?mode=PF Clea Simon. "Novel's Powerful Prose Brings History to Life." "Boston Globe", 07/27/2005] .
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90262329 Anna-Marie Slaughter. "Beyond Beijing: China's Past, Present, and Future." "All Things Considered", 08/25/08] .

References

*Douglas, Carol Anne. "White Snakes and Secret Fans: Chinese Women in Fiction." "Off our Backs", vol. 36, no. 3.
*See, Lisa. "The Ties that Bind." "The Times" (UK), 01/14/2006.