Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1) 
In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.
As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.
This is the second Lisa See novel that I've read, and both times when I've finished her books I've felt vaguely duped. There's so much historical detail in here, much of it grim, that I feel like I must be reading something sweeping and important. But the character-driven parts of the plot (often about tensions and jealousies in close female relationships) remind me more of...Danielle Steel, maybe? Dare I say it? Something kind of primal and potboiler-y and not too nuanced. So and so is the
This is quite possibly the most depressing book I have ever read. I understand that this happened to a lot of people during World War II, the whole rape-sad-escape-sad-angelisland-sad-babydies-sad-ostracized-sad-husbanddies-sad...but dude the entire book is sad and depressing. The thing is, it's not even sad in a beautiful, emotional way. It's not sad that it will make me cry. It's sad because I'm horrified and angered and all shivery from the horrific scenes painted in such great detail. It's

This book is good, but why is it that folks don't TELL each other stuff? Is it because it makes for a better story? You get a climax when folks find out EVERYTHING in a gush of anger and such.It' can't be healthy.I still like this book, but I need to add the fact that does old school China HAVE to be so sad?Even in the US these poor women get such a raw deal, especially Pearl. Her life sucked the most! All that stuff happens to her in Shanghai, they are practically enslaved by that old man. They
See has once again grabbed my attention with her detail of a time and culture I knew little about and creating characters that I come to care about. Her writing is so easy that it is not difficult to immerse myself in her stories of a culture foreign to me. This story follows Pearl and May who we meet as privelaged and spoiled beautiful girls of glittery Shanghai. Naive and so unaware of the political turmoil of their country and the bad choices of their father they are set up in arranged
This was the third book I've read by this author and I'm still confused as to my feelings for her writing. The first book I read, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I loved. I think it was all the descriptions and information about the cultural nuances, including foot binding. Then, I was excited to read, Peony in Love, until I actually started it. Then, I thought maybe this book would turn the tide either way. Unfortunately, I'm still ambivalent. It was an interesting enough story: two "modern"
I fell in love with Lisa See's writing a few years ago when I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. As such, I was really looking forward to reading Shanghai Girls when it came out. Initially though, people began saying that it did not compare. So it was with trepidation that I began reading this book, afraid that I would be disappointed. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. All I can say is that Lisa See has another hit on her hands with this wonderful story of two sisters who emigrate from Shanghai to America
Lisa See
Hardcover | Pages: 309 pages Rating: 3.9 | 132844 Users | 9493 Reviews

Be Specific About Books To Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1)
| Original Title: | Shanghai Girls |
| ISBN: | 1400067111 (ISBN13: 9781400067114) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Shanghai Girls #1 |
| Characters: | Pearl Chin, May Chin, Sam Louie |
| Setting: | Shanghai(China) Los Angeles, California(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction (2009), Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Adult Fiction Honor (2009) |
Rendition Conducive To Books Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1)
Pearl and May are sisters, living carefree lives in Shanghai, the Paris of Asia. But when Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, they set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America.In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.
As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.
Identify Based On Books Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1)
| Title | : | Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1) |
| Author | : | Lisa See |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 309 pages |
| Published | : | May 26th 2009 by Random House |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Cultural. China. Asia. Literature. Asian Literature. Adult Fiction |
Rating Based On Books Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1)
Ratings: 3.9 From 132844 Users | 9493 ReviewsJudge Based On Books Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1)
3.5--rounded up.This is my first Lisa See novel, but I do not expect it to be my last. I understand there is a follow-up novel to this one, and that is encouraging, because I felt this one ended with just too many untied ends. I would like to get to the next installment before the details of this one have faded. In Shanghai Girls, Lisa See follows the lives of two sisters, Pearl and May. They are caught between the modern society of 1930s Shanghai and the traditional Chinese values that areThis is the second Lisa See novel that I've read, and both times when I've finished her books I've felt vaguely duped. There's so much historical detail in here, much of it grim, that I feel like I must be reading something sweeping and important. But the character-driven parts of the plot (often about tensions and jealousies in close female relationships) remind me more of...Danielle Steel, maybe? Dare I say it? Something kind of primal and potboiler-y and not too nuanced. So and so is the
This is quite possibly the most depressing book I have ever read. I understand that this happened to a lot of people during World War II, the whole rape-sad-escape-sad-angelisland-sad-babydies-sad-ostracized-sad-husbanddies-sad...but dude the entire book is sad and depressing. The thing is, it's not even sad in a beautiful, emotional way. It's not sad that it will make me cry. It's sad because I'm horrified and angered and all shivery from the horrific scenes painted in such great detail. It's

This book is good, but why is it that folks don't TELL each other stuff? Is it because it makes for a better story? You get a climax when folks find out EVERYTHING in a gush of anger and such.It' can't be healthy.I still like this book, but I need to add the fact that does old school China HAVE to be so sad?Even in the US these poor women get such a raw deal, especially Pearl. Her life sucked the most! All that stuff happens to her in Shanghai, they are practically enslaved by that old man. They
See has once again grabbed my attention with her detail of a time and culture I knew little about and creating characters that I come to care about. Her writing is so easy that it is not difficult to immerse myself in her stories of a culture foreign to me. This story follows Pearl and May who we meet as privelaged and spoiled beautiful girls of glittery Shanghai. Naive and so unaware of the political turmoil of their country and the bad choices of their father they are set up in arranged
This was the third book I've read by this author and I'm still confused as to my feelings for her writing. The first book I read, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I loved. I think it was all the descriptions and information about the cultural nuances, including foot binding. Then, I was excited to read, Peony in Love, until I actually started it. Then, I thought maybe this book would turn the tide either way. Unfortunately, I'm still ambivalent. It was an interesting enough story: two "modern"
I fell in love with Lisa See's writing a few years ago when I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. As such, I was really looking forward to reading Shanghai Girls when it came out. Initially though, people began saying that it did not compare. So it was with trepidation that I began reading this book, afraid that I would be disappointed. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. All I can say is that Lisa See has another hit on her hands with this wonderful story of two sisters who emigrate from Shanghai to America


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