Book Review: Shanghai Girls

After having read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I was really looking forward to reading Lisa See's new book called Shanghai Girls.  I was not disappointed.

What I enjoyed most about the book is the way that it transports you back to a different place and time.  Learning about what life was like in the past for a girl living in Shanghai or in LA's Chinatown was very interesting.

This novel begins the story with two sisters, Pearl and May, in Shanghai in 1937.  They are daughters of a wealthy businessman and spend their days modeling and their nights drinking and dancing with friends.  They are beautiful, young, and naive, thinking that their comfortable lives would last forever.

One day, Baba comes home and tells them that they are to be married off.  Then, their lives change forever, as the Japanese invade Shanghai.  Mama helps them to escape, but they subsequently face one tragedy after another.

Through it all, these two sisters, with the strength of their bond and their faith in each other, manage to survive.

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