Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel

Such a beautifully written book. I felt as if I was living within the walls of these majestic compounds of the Emperor and wealthy political families. The description of the gardens was exquisite - I could see, taste and feel the flora and fauna. I did some research on Chinese medicine after reading the book and it’s as equally fascinating as the description of herbs and flowers used for medicine for women in the storyline. The storyline was haunting and the characters developed so well; especially when teasing out the differences between the classes of people. I couldn’t put the book down and highly recommend for a book club as there is so much to discuss.

What a beautiful, sweeping novel - completely immersive (*completed this read in a few days) and written with such delicacy and poignancy - this story of deep courage, quiet resilience and the intricacies of female friendship of Yunchian and Meiling will stay with me for reads to come...

This is the 6th Lisa See book that I have read. As always her writing drew me into a time period I know little about which is one of the reasons I love her writing. I especially enjoyed having her come to my book club and explain her writing process. The sheer amount of research that she puts into her work is amazing. It was so interesting how she weaved in true accounts into the fictional story such as the scene with the worm. Highly recommend and I look forward to her next book which she said is 30 years in the making.

Interesting historical fiction about women and china.

Discussion 4/15/24