Shanghai Girls
Encyclopedia
Shanghai Girls is a novel by Lisa See
. In an important sense, it returns to the beginning of her major writing career. After publishing three murder mysteries largely set in China (Flower Net
, The Interior
, and Dragon Bones
) and then following them up with two in-depth studies of the struggles of Chinese women in the 19th and 17th centuries respectively (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
and Peony in Love
), See now returns to many of the themes she emphasized in her first major work, On Gold Mountain
. The 1937-57 time frame of the novel matches Parts IV and V of the memoir. The museum exhibit that See developed based on On Gold Mountain
also provides relevant context for the new novel.
The novel received an Honorable Mention from the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature
. The sequel, Dreams of Joy, was released May 31, 2011.
she objectively placed 100 years of her Chinese family history in the context of the daunting challenges Chinese immigrants faced in coming to American in search of Gold Mountain
. America's mistreatment of Chinese immigrants is stressed in both memoir and novel.
The sisters' story is interrelated with critical historical events, famous people, and important places—the Second Sino-Japanese War
, the Battle of Shanghai
, internment at Angel Island, Los Angeles Chinatown, Hollywood, World War II
, the Chinese Exclusion Act, McCarthyism
, etc. Historically significant people appearing in the novel include Madame Chiang Kai-shek, actress Anna May Wong
, film personality Tom Gubbins, and Christine Sterling, the "Mother of Olvera Street."
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
explores the complex relationship between two intimate friends. In Shanghai Girls See treats the loving yet conflicted relationship between two best friends who also happen to be sisters, especially in the context of their relationship to Pearl's daughter Joy. In speaking of Shanghai Girls, See has commented: "Your sister is the one person who should stick by you and love you no matter what, but she’s also the one person who knows exactly where to drive the knife to hurt you the most." That being said, in Shanghai Girls it is the love of Pearl and May for each other that survives.
The protagonist in the story. Her Zodiac sign is the Dragon. The elder of two sisters, she always thought that she was less loved by their parents. She is in love with Z.G. Li, a painter/photographer who takes pictures of and paints Pearl and May. She later marries Sam Louie to help pay off her father's debt to the Louies. She and Sam raise Joy as their own daughter. Later on she becomes pregnant with Sam's baby. She carries the baby to term, but the child is a stillborn boy.
Younger sister of Pearl. Her Zodiac sign is the Sheep. Flirtatious and haughty, she is jealous of her sister who went to college and who she thought was favored by their parents. She has a secret romantic relationship with Z.G. Li. Later it is discovered that she became pregnant by him, resulting in a daughter, Joy. May gives Joy to Pearl to raise as her own daughter because on the night of her wedding to Vern, Sam's brother, she could not bring herself to sleep with him. Father Louie (Vern and Sam's father) suspects she may be pregnant by someone else, so both she and Pearl pretend that Pearl was the one pregnant all along.
Lisa See
Lisa See is an American writer and novelist. Her Chinese-American family has had a great impact on her life and work. Her books include On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family and the novels Flower Net , The Interior , Dragon Bones , Snow Flower and the...
. In an important sense, it returns to the beginning of her major writing career. After publishing three murder mysteries largely set in China (Flower Net
Flower Net
Flower Net by Lisa See is the first of the Red Princess mysteries. The other two novels in the series are The Interior and Dragon Bones...
, The Interior
The Interior (See)
The Interior is the second novel in Lisa See's Red Princess series. The first is Flower Net and the third is Dragon Bones. In The Interior Chinese MPS inspector Liu Hulan and David Stark, an American attorney who loves her and is the father of her unborn child, try to find out whether Miaoshan, the...
, and Dragon Bones
Dragon Bones (See)
Dragon Bones by Lisa See is the third of the Red Princess mysteries, preceded by Flower Net and The Interior. Once again the protagonists Inspector Liu Hulan and Attorney David Stark return—this time as husband and wife.-Plot summary:...
) and then following them up with two in-depth studies of the struggles of Chinese women in the 19th and 17th centuries respectively (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a 2005 novel by Lisa See set in nineteenth century China. In her introduction to the novel, See writes that Lily, the narrator, was born in 1823 — "the third year of Emperor Daoguang's reign". The novel begins in 1903, when Lily is 80 years old...
and Peony in Love
Peony in Love
Peony in Love is the fifth of Lisa See's novels. Her previous novel, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and Peony in Love emphasize the difficulty 19th and 17th century Chinese women had in achieving freedom and identity in a society that was both male dominated and rigid in its gender...
), See now returns to many of the themes she emphasized in her first major work, On Gold Mountain
On Gold Mountain
On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family describes 100 years of author Lisa See’s family history, providing a complex portrait of her family’s hard work, suffering, failures and successes as they moved from China to the United States. Speaking of the Chinese...
. The 1937-57 time frame of the novel matches Parts IV and V of the memoir. The museum exhibit that See developed based on On Gold Mountain
On Gold Mountain
On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family describes 100 years of author Lisa See’s family history, providing a complex portrait of her family’s hard work, suffering, failures and successes as they moved from China to the United States. Speaking of the Chinese...
also provides relevant context for the new novel.
The novel received an Honorable Mention from the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature
Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature
The Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature are a set of literary awards presented annually by the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association...
. The sequel, Dreams of Joy, was released May 31, 2011.
Plot summary
Shanghai Girls is divided into three parts: Fate, Fortune, and Destiny. It centers on the complex relationship between two sisters, Pearl and May, as they go through great pain and suffering in leaving war-torn Shanghai and try to adjust to the difficult roles of wives in arranged marriages and of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. Here See treats Chinese immigration from a personal view through Pearl's narration. In On Gold MountainOn Gold Mountain
On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family describes 100 years of author Lisa See’s family history, providing a complex portrait of her family’s hard work, suffering, failures and successes as they moved from China to the United States. Speaking of the Chinese...
she objectively placed 100 years of her Chinese family history in the context of the daunting challenges Chinese immigrants faced in coming to American in search of Gold Mountain
Gold Mountain
Gold Mountain is the name given by the Chinese to western regions of North America, particularly California, USA and British Columbia, Canada. After gold was first discovered in the state of California in 1848, thousands of Chinese from Toisan in Guangdong , began to travel to California in search...
. America's mistreatment of Chinese immigrants is stressed in both memoir and novel.
The sisters' story is interrelated with critical historical events, famous people, and important places—the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, the Battle of Shanghai
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai, known in Chinese as Battle of Songhu, was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army of the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War...
, internment at Angel Island, Los Angeles Chinatown, Hollywood, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Chinese Exclusion Act, McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
, etc. Historically significant people appearing in the novel include Madame Chiang Kai-shek, actress Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong was an American actress, the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American to become an international star...
, film personality Tom Gubbins, and Christine Sterling, the "Mother of Olvera Street."
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a 2005 novel by Lisa See set in nineteenth century China. In her introduction to the novel, See writes that Lily, the narrator, was born in 1823 — "the third year of Emperor Daoguang's reign". The novel begins in 1903, when Lily is 80 years old...
explores the complex relationship between two intimate friends. In Shanghai Girls See treats the loving yet conflicted relationship between two best friends who also happen to be sisters, especially in the context of their relationship to Pearl's daughter Joy. In speaking of Shanghai Girls, See has commented: "Your sister is the one person who should stick by you and love you no matter what, but she’s also the one person who knows exactly where to drive the knife to hurt you the most." That being said, in Shanghai Girls it is the love of Pearl and May for each other that survives.
Characters
- Pearl Chin
The protagonist in the story. Her Zodiac sign is the Dragon. The elder of two sisters, she always thought that she was less loved by their parents. She is in love with Z.G. Li, a painter/photographer who takes pictures of and paints Pearl and May. She later marries Sam Louie to help pay off her father's debt to the Louies. She and Sam raise Joy as their own daughter. Later on she becomes pregnant with Sam's baby. She carries the baby to term, but the child is a stillborn boy.
- May Chin
Younger sister of Pearl. Her Zodiac sign is the Sheep. Flirtatious and haughty, she is jealous of her sister who went to college and who she thought was favored by their parents. She has a secret romantic relationship with Z.G. Li. Later it is discovered that she became pregnant by him, resulting in a daughter, Joy. May gives Joy to Pearl to raise as her own daughter because on the night of her wedding to Vern, Sam's brother, she could not bring herself to sleep with him. Father Louie (Vern and Sam's father) suspects she may be pregnant by someone else, so both she and Pearl pretend that Pearl was the one pregnant all along.
External links
- Angel Island
- "Carved in Silence," California State Parks video transcript
- "On Gold Mountain: A Chinese American Experience." See's Smithsonian Institution exhibit, 2001
- Lisa See, "For Lisa See, Los Angeles' Chinatown was Always Like Stepping into her Past", Lost Angeles Times, 05/31/2009
- "Amazon Exclusive: Lisa See on Shanghai Girls"
- Lisa See, "Two Sisters, Two Cultures" (video). The Daily Beast, 06/08/2009
- Lisa See interviewed by Kate Merkel-Hesse, "The China Beat: Coming Distraction: Shanghai Girls", 03/16/2009
- Lisa See, Shanghai Girls (video)
- "Shanghai Girls: MSMC Guide to the Novel", 04/19/2010
- "Shanghai Girls Slideshow"
- "Q & A about Shanghai Girls"
Reviews
- Amy Canfield, "In Shanghai Girls, sisters live the beautiful life -- until their downfall", Miami Herald, 06/21/2009
- Susan Kelly, "Lisa See follows brave passage in Shanghai Girls, USA Today, 06/12/2009
- Michael R. Peroff, "My Shanghai Girls", 02/12/2010
- Julie Phillips, "Shanghai Girls", Ms. Magazine, 05/16/2009
- "Sisters with a Secret," Publishers Weekly, 03/23/2009
- "Shanghai Girls Details a Chinese-American Odyssey", NPR, 05/26/2009
- Joy Tipping, "Book Review: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See", Dallas Morning News, 07/02/2009
- Jeffrey Wasserstrom, "A Tale of Two Sisters", Time, 07/13/2009
- Yvonne Zipp, Shanghai Girls, Christian Science Monitor, 06/05/2009