My Rating: 5 stars
In an essay at the back of the book (I bought the Barnes and Noble exclusive edition), Lisa See writes that there are generally three themes that run through all her novels: "stories about women that have been lost, forgotten, or sometimes deliberately covered up; the unique physiology that defines us as women; and our desire to record through writing our moments on earth." In her latest work, all three of these themes are explored through the captivating story of Tan Yunxian, a real female doctor who had lived during the Ming dynasty in China. Yunxian was from an elite family in Wuxi who got sent to live with her paternal grandparents after her mother died when she was only 8 years old. As one of China's few female physicians, Yunxian's Grandmother Ru was in the unique position of being able to treat female patients up close through the Four Examinations (looking, listening, touching, asking), which allowed her to help many women with their illnesses, especially those related to childbearing (this was important because male physicians during that time period were not allowed to do any of those things with female patients and instead had to rely on an intermediary to pass messages back-and-forth from afar, which often led to shoddy diagnoses and treatments). Yunxian is taken under her grandmother's tutelage and learns everything about medicine from her, but faced with the various restrictions placed on women at the time, as well as the necessity for a woman of her status to adhere to societal traditions, she was largely prevented from practicing her trade. Fortunately, Yunxian was supported by a "circle of women" — including her childhood best friend, a midwife named Meiling — through whom she was able to put her skills to use, helping many women and girls in the process.
One of the things that always stands out with Lisa See's novels is the meticulous research she does in order to bring the historical aspects of her stories to life, which I absolutely admire. Each time I read her books, I'm blown away by the amount of intricate and exquisite detail she is able to incorporate so seamlessly into her stories, to the point that I always feel completely transported and immersed in the time period she is writing about. With this book in particular, even though I was already familiar with many of the traditions and other historical elements described in the story due to having grown up in the Chinese culture, I appreciated the fact that I was still able to learn so much. I also love how See presents the historical contexts behind her characters and events authentically, and doesn't mince words to try to make things more "palatable" for readers. Of course, this means that there were quite a few scenes that were difficult to read (the ones describing the footbinding process and some of the patients' specific medical conditions especially made me cringe), but they were realistically rendered, which I appreciated.
For me, the mark of truly great historical fiction is its ability to immerse me in the story to the point that, after finishing the book, I feel compelled to read up on the subject matter / event / historical figure at the center of the story. I definitely did that that with this book — I was so fascinated with Tan Yunxian's story that I spent hours afterwards googling and reading more background about her (Lisa See's website has some links to sites she used in her research that were especially interesting to explore).
I could go on, but I will stop here and end with the recommendation to read this book, since no amount of description on my part would be able to do it justice. As a fan, I hope I won't need to wait another 4 years to read a new Lisa See book (though if that's what it takes, I will wait of course, lol), but at least in the interim, I can go back and read her backlist books that I hadn't gotten a chance to read yet (which I intend to do at some point soon).
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