Monday, February 08, 2010
Peony In Love by Lisa See
I was very disappointed in this book. I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by the same author. I almost stopped reading it several times. But when I read in the Author's Note that many of the events in the book were based in fact, I decided to finish it. It was set in 17th century China after the fall of the Ming dynasty and Manchu invaders established the Qing dynasty. I usually enjoy reading about other cultures and time periods, but I couldn't relate to the story at all. Especially the main character, who became lovesick after meeting a man for a brief time 3 evenings in a row and then starved herself to death. While it seemed improbable, evidently many young girls did exactly that in 17th century China. We think of anorexia as a modern aberration, but evidently not.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I have not read this book, though it is on my shelf since I got it as a gift over the holidays. I really enjoyed Shanghai Girls though.
Post a Comment