Enjoyed but is the least favourite of the Lisa See books I’ve read to date. ( )

This was a lot closer to the long Chinese tales of friendship I enjoy like her later books compared to the more contemporary Chinese Dolls I just read. ( )

I enjoyed the novel (I'm a huge historical fiction and Chinese history buff), but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. I may be unfairly comparing it to Amy Tan's novels, which leave you feeling both emotionally raw and touched. ( )

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan has some really interesting historical detail about women's lives in 19th century China. As children, Lily and Snow Flower are tied together as laotong, lifelong friends. There are similarities in this type of match to a marriage. They are also both taught nu shu, which is a written language used exclusively by Chinese women. I was interested to learn about all of these cultural details of 19th century China, which seemed well-researched.

At the same time, I didn't really connect to either of these main characters. I think that the author intended the whole novel to end up reading like one of the didactic tales common in the era, but I think that authorial decision also kept the characters feeling a bit more like a means to an end in teaching a lesson rather than human beings.

I believe this was Lisa See's first standalone novel after a mystery series she wrote. I read one of her later novels recently and felt it was much better written than this one. I think she has matured as an author and while this early novel has interesting detail and a good story, she's gotten better at adding in well-rounded characters in her later writing. ( )

More like three and a half stars. I thought the story itself was a little weak, but the details of the lives that these women lead had me hooked. ( )