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| Plot Summary of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan |
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"In nineteenth-century China, Lily, seven, is paired with a laotong, another little girl called Snow Flower, for an emotional match.
Snow Flower introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan, on which she has written a poem in nu shu (a language created by Chinese women to communicate in secret and that the most educated of them used to teach to their daughters). They take turns in writing on the fan.
From Daughter days to Sitting Quietly days, the girls endure footbidding (allowing them to make an arranged marriage), they learn how to take care of a home, and study nu shu in the women chamber of their respective homes, while the men work outside. Lily, a farmer's daughter, marries up and becomes Lady Lu. Snow Flower, an opium addict's daughter, whose father can not support his family anymore, marries down, and lives a hard life as the wife of a country butcher. They both pray to have boys, which will give them a higher status in the in-laws household. Lily has three sons and a daughter, Snow Flower, two sons and a daughter (and a lot of miscarriages). They meet at set dates to visit the Temple of Gupo or to go back to their families for the Catching Cool Breezes Festival. Over the years, they share their pains through messages in nu shu, and record important events of their lives on the fan.
A misunderstanding causes the women to stop writing to each other, but they reconcile as Snow Flower's death approaches.
"
Lydie Barquet, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- very sensitive (sigh)
Time/era of story
- 19th century
Inside culture (main char)
- Chinese
Other aspects:
- best friends
Culture clash?
- family young v. old guard
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- Chinese
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Woman's story?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- homemaker
Age:
- long lived adults
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Chinese
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a substantial amount
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 (a fair amount)
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- China
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- touching of anatomy
- impregnation/reproduction
- descript. of female anat. (the big B's)
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Lisa See Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Lydie Barquet
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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