Monday, June 22, 2009

Shanghai Girls


LibraryThing book review...
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Shanghai Girls is the story of two sisters, May and Pearl, who are living a pretty good life in Shanghai. Pearl is the older sister, educated, tall, and born in the Year of the Dragon. May is shorter, beautiful, and born in the Year of the Sheep. They really want for nothing. Their father gambles away the family money and forces the sisters to marry brothers living in the United States. The Japanese invasion of Shanghai makes leaving their home very complicated. They find themselves in several horrible situations and most do not end well.

Shanghai Girls is a compelling read and I was interested in their story throughout. The relationship between Pearl and May is fascinating and we come to know these sisters very well. The story is pretty sad and it is sad throughout the book. The history, I found, fascinating. The ending, however, I did not care for-it is not bad, just left open...very frustrating!

2 comments:

Cathy said...

Nice review! I have this sitting in my TBR pile. I bought it in order to participate in the discussion when she was on B&N new reads; however, I wans't able to read before then. :(

Darlene said...

I just won this book and can't wait to read it. Gotta hate when you don't like the ending though.