Book Reviews

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See, was definitely a quick read-  I couldn’t put it down and ended up finishing it in just two nights.  The story takes place in 19th Century China and is about a young girl (and her many family members) and her struggles as a woman in this period.  

Foot binding, which I had heard of but had never understood the full extent of, was standard practice amongst women of that time- nearly all women (except for lowly peasants and servants who needed bigger, stronger feet to work the fields) had their feet bound at age 6 or 7, and the details of this process were just astonishing.  Foot binding involves a process of wrapping the toes beneath the foot, leaving just the big toe to bear the full weight of the body.  Once feet are bound, the young girls are forced to walk daily back and forth, to encourage the breaking of all of the bones in the toes, and eventually all of those throughout the foot.  Many young girls die during this process, with infection spreading from their toes up through their legs to the rest of their bodies.  However, if a young lady survives, the ultimate goal is to break all bones in the foot, form a perfect point led by the big toe, and the result should be a foot around 7 centimeters in length, known as a “perfect lily.”  The process sounded absolutely brutal and even after two years of walking in agony until the foot formed correctly, these feet then hindered women for the rest of their lives.  When later fleeing their village from attack, many women died because their feet simply could not carry them the distance or over the terrain that was covered.  I was surprised to hear that second to only a son, these well-formed feet were probably a woman’s most prized possession in this time.  They were certainly her ticket to a better life, and were also an aphrodisiac to men, who were perpetually in awe of and fascinated by them.

Women in these times were considered useless and worthless, their only contribution to society being that of bearing a son.  The story is about the secret language that women in these times developed for themselves in order to communicate to one another during their long periods of isolation in the upper chambers of their homes.  ”Nu Shu” was a phonetic language developed by women, for women, to assist them in sharing tales of woe, loneliness, heartache, and suffering.  

Lily, the young girl in the story, becomes lifelong best friends (laotangs) with another young girl, Snow Flower, and over their many years of friendship they pass a secret fan back and forth that contains the “nu shu” language.  Both girls and their families witness much suffering and despair throughout their lives, as was typical of women in 19th Century China.  The story of their unfaltering friendship throughout the many hardships they both face is an incredible one, and must be read to be understood.

The book was wonderful in that it provided such a large piece of history without feeling at all historical.  The life lessons are priceless, and it is eye-opening in so many ways- we truly have a lot to be thankful for.  Remember to stay away from judgement when you read this book- it is difficult to understand these traditions but we gain so much wisdom if we do.

This picture is not for the weak-stomached, but below is a photo of and older woman who has had her feet bound and actually has what is close to “a perfect pair of lilies.”

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