Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel

This is a loosely based coming-of-age story of Yunxian Tan, the real-life first female doctor in China. We read about how Yunxian became Lady Tan, from the loss of her mother to her marriage to Maoren, and her influences from both her grandparents in the world of medicine. We are introduced to foot binding and its importance to show the hierarchy of the social classes and how men treated women. It shows us the Chinese customs a woman had to follow, including how and why they believed in certain superstitions. What I found most fascinating was a deep delve into understanding why there were arranged marriages, concubines, and more about their corporal punishments.

I love the strong relationships Yunxian has with the women around her: Midwife Meiling, Miss Zhao, Spinster Aunt, and of course, her grandmother.

What I did not love is my lack of understanding of why Yunxian Tan loved Maoren. In my strong opinion, he did not deserve her love or her grace. He was selfish and only thought of saving his family's face, never really trying to understand Yunxian Tan’s point of view or fully trusting she is capable of doing the right thing. Do not even come at me and say, “Oh but it was because of the times and the men didn’t respect women.” He always went to consult with his mother about everything. I do understand it is the mother-in-law who rules and manages the household but when you get to the last chapters (around 85%), you will fully understand what I am talking about. I see him being a sulky man who feels emancipated because he secretly knows his wife is the true erudite between the two of them.

Is it a must-read? Only if you are truly into historical fiction. The pacing of the story is slow and when you reach the 80% mark, that is when the story truly comes alive and you don't want to stop until you get to the end.

Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Pace: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Intrigue: 3/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Interesting look at life in 15th century China and the role of women. It also gave me a deeper understanding of Chinese medicine. Enjoyable read.

4.5

4.5 STARS
Lady Tan's Circle of Women was a overall a really enjoyable read! The author did an excellent job conveying the 15th century societal norms, expectations and horrific beauty standards for women of the time. I also felt like there was heavy amount of research put into this story, and it was fascinating to read afterwards of the author's own connection to this time and the items she has that were passed down from her family like her ancestor's Marriage Bed. I love how this story was based off an actual real women physician from that era as well, who had published her cases! How unique and inspiring. Reading about some of the cases the main character took on(her mother-in-law and her throat?!) and the absolutely grotesque foot binding were really hard to get through if I'm being honest. The idea that women's suffering and pain to achieve that shape of foot was "pleasing" and a turn on for men in that time is so absolutely unfathomable but also not the least bit surprising. I was so absorbed reading about the impact of Chinese Medicine on Yunxian's patients and how utterly useless male Doctors were at the time and compared to the comprehensive work women Midwives did with labouring women pre and post birth. The thing that I liked most about the story was how relationships to women and fostering connection and support with them was so paramount to women's life and survival. Also the relationship between Yunxian and Meiling was so beautiful and it really exposed a lot of the differences in class and gender in the 15th century. There were some female characters I wasn't too fond of in the beginning but by the end I had a soft spot for them all, and I certainly got emotional by the end when we see Lady Tan's Circle all come together, both living and dead. Did not expect that the story would dip into the mystery realm with that court case at the end but it was really enjoyable to read. I think the thing that missed the mark for me in regards to giving it a 5 star rating would be that I wanted the mystery element to be a bit longer! It almost felt like an afterthought but I do think it suited the story really well, just personally I wished it were longer and more drawn out. Really beautiful ending too. I love when Historical Fiction makes me feel like I'm truly immersed in the era with all its sights, sounds and smells, and Lisa See completely did that with this story.

Our book club read this book and so glad it was chosen. If I saw on shelf I would have not picked up. This book is full of history and friendships.