Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

In three words I deem this book: brilliant, horrifying, and beautiful.

This book was nothing short of jaw-dropping. Seriously.  And for a lot of reasons actually. But I won't spoil it by going into too much detail. 

This book takes place in Nineteenth Century China, about a deep friendship (Laotong) between two girls.  It covers everything from foot-binding to match-making. What a breathtaking book.  A book that makes you gasp out loud, smile, and cry.  I find the Chinese culture very fascinating - I learned so much about nineteenth century China (holy cow, they did some crazy stuff!  And had some whacked-out beliefs! :) Women were basically treated like trash!  And that foot-binding business is crazy crazy!

Totally recommend this book, it's a little piece of history in a tragic (yes, not the happiest-feel-good-book) fictional story.  (Oh, and apparently it's a movie, due to come out soon.)

4.5 out of 5 stars