With the period detail and deep resonance of memoirs of a geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships. The story to follow is lilys autobiography, which will be burned upon her death. Snow flower and the secret fan study guide contains a biography of lisa see, literature essays, quiz questions, major. Snow flower and the secret fan literally has taken me to 19th century china. Aug 15, 2005 snow flower and the secret fan by lisa see 258 pages. Inspired by the bestselling novel snow flower and the secret fan by lisa see, the film is a timeless portrait of female friendship. Snow flower secret fan by lisa see, first edition abebooks. Its clear that the people who made the bigscreen version of snow flower and the secret fan encountered many challenges. Snow flower and the secret fan see, lisa 9780812968064. But see has worked enough joy, pain and dramatic weepiness to give it a quiet staying power. Snow flower and the secret fan download ebook pdf, epub. Snow flower and the secret fan 2011 plot summary imdb. The novel begins in 1903, when lily is 80 years old. Lily lily is one of the pair of characters central to snow flower and the secret fan, and she is also the narrator of the entire story.
Based on the bestselling novel by lisa see, the movie portrays the lifelong friendship between nina and sophia in modernday shanghai, and, in parallel, the friendship vow taken by lily and snow flower in 19 century china in hunan province at a time when women had. But looking at our secret fan with its messages written between snow flower and me over many years, i see that i didnt value the most important lovedeepheart love. The snow flower and the secret fan lesson plan contains a variety of teaching materials that cater to all learning styles. In 19thcentury china, seven year old girls snow flower and lily are matched as laotong or old sames bound together for eternity. Mar 14, 2011 inspired by the bestselling novel snow flower and the secret fan by lisa see, the film is a timeless portrait of female friendship. Snow flower and the secret fan a language kept a secret for a thousand years forms the backdrop for an unforgettable novel of two chinese women whose. Snow flower and the secret fan is achingly beautiful, a marvel of imagination of a real and.
Snow flower and the secret fan quotes showing of 69 read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river. It continues on to tell the story of her life from birth, childhood, marriage, and old age. Click download or read online button to get snow flower and the secret fan book now. How to condense so much action into a seamless whole. Jul 15, 2011 snow flower and the secret fan, a movie based on the lisa see book, explores foot binding and the relationships of two pairs of women during two periods of history. During their youth, lily feels as if she is learning everything from snow flower, who comes from a more prestigious and cultured family. I read snow flower and the secret fan about 4 or 5 years ago and loved the book. Occasionally, in the midst of notes about childbirth and marriages, lily and snow flower wonder how to understand the value of their secret writing in relation to the mens outside world. Snow flower and the secret fan north carolina digital. I choose love as a main theme, because throughout the book lily, the main character, is reflecting on her life.
Snow flower and the secret fan is a wonderful story about the friendship between two women, laotongs, who endure a lifetime of trials and tribulations enduring the pressures of their culture and traditions in 1800s china. Lily is the daughter of a humble farmer, and to her family she is just another expensive mouth to feed. Buy snow flower and the secret fan reprint by see, lisa isbn. Lily endures excruciating pain in order to have her feet bound. Snow flower and the secret fan is a lovely, delicate story of two women in nineteenthcentury china, who pledge themselves to be soulmates for life at the young age of seven. Summary lisa sees novel snow flower and the secret fan takes place in china during the 1800s. Snow flower and the secret fan inside snow flower and the secret fan. Lily broke tradition for the first time when snow flower, her laotong contractual best friend, sent lily the fan that now sits on the table in front of her.
Book club questions for snow flower and the secret fan lisa. She was taught to honor duty and ones place in society even when events challenged that sense of duty and place i. Lisa see had written about the girls life in china when girls were having their feet bound and then they used to spend the rest of their lives in isolation with only one window through which they can see. Jul 20, 2011 this was a relationship that could begin with the agreement of their parents before birth, and persist independent of marriage, children or the changing fortunes of life. The two women exchange messages written on silk fans and handkerchieves using nu shu, a unique language that women created in order to. Snow flower and the secret fan study guide from litcharts. At the end of her life, lady lily lu, the 80yearold matriarch of tongkou village, sits down to write her final memoirone that will be burned at her death. The story focuses on the rigorous lady lessons endured by laotongs sworn sisters lily and snow flower.
In nineteenth century china, in a remote hunan county, a girl named lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, or old same, in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. It is at the heart of lisa sees period bestseller snow flower and the secret fan, and has inspired a film that carries the concept into the present day. Pdf snow flower and the secret fan book by lisa see free. Lily is the main character and firstperson narrator of her life story.
Praise for snow flower and the secret fan a subtly stirring novel. Bookbrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Book club questions for snow flower and the secret fan. Lily lily is the narrator and main character of snow flower and the secret fan. In her introduction to the novel, see writes that lily, the narrator, was born on june 5, 1824the fifth day of the sixth month of the third year of the daoguang emperors reign. With the detail and emotional resonance of memoirs of a geisha, snow flower and the secret fan delves into one of the most mysterious and treasured relationships of all timefemale friendship. Created by the original team behind sparknotes, litcharts are the worlds best literature guides.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Snow flower and the secret fan lisa sees official website. In rural hunan province, a county in china, lily and her friend snow flower are a laotong pair whose sisterly relationship is far stronger and closer than a husband and wifes. Snow flower and the secret fan definitely falls into that category. Find books like snow flower and the secret fan from the worlds largest community of readers. A story of friendship set in nineteenthcentury china follows an elderly woman and her companion as they communicate their hopes, dreams, joys, and tragedies through a unique secret language. See has worked enough joy, pain and dramatic weepiness oh, how i wanted to dip a cloth into that water and wipe away the cares that played across my laotongs features to give it a quiet staying power. In what ways did lily and snow flower show their strength and value. Lily s only rebellion was her use of nu shu, which is womens secret writing. Snow flower and the secret fan guide novel gobblers. These last years i have copied down many autobiographies for women who never learned nu shu. Snow flower and the secret fan original score allmusic. Snow flower and the secret fan english flashcards quizlet. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 269 pages and is available in paperback format.
Its a gripping, period story taking place in the later 1820s in china. In the first and last chapter, the narrator lily reveals that she is dictating the story to peony, the wife of her grandson, as a form of confession to her friend snow flower. Snow flower and the secret fan is achingly beautiful, a marvel of imagination of a real and secret world that has. Inside youll find 30 daily lessons, 20 fun activities, 180 multiple choice questions, 60 short essay questions, 20 essay questions, quizzeshomework assignments, tests, and more. Snow flower and the secret fan lesson plans for teachers. In 19thcentury china, sevenyearold girls snow flower. Snow flower introduces herself by embroidering a greeting on a fan, which will become the fan both girls use throughout their lives to communicate with one another, using nu shu, the secret womens writing. During her lifetime, lily lives through the reigns of four emperors of the. Lily and snow flower use this secret writing to send messages to one another at significant points in their lives. A story set in 19th century china and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women. This story traces the life of lily, a young farmers daughter in a very rural area of china, born in 1823.
Although the truth is stretched to accommodate the relationship, the laotongs are supposed to have eight characters that. The book was very well researched, and does do its best to explain that while this life was not as free as modern culture is for women, it was in some ways not as awful as it could have been. Snow flower and the secret fan is not a book that will make its mark for reasons of style. The laotong, snow flower, introduces herself by sending lily a silk fan on which shes painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. Madame wang gives lily a fan which bears a secret language developed by the women of hunan province as a means of communicating in spite of their isolation. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of snow flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. But, snow flower and the secret fan is by far my bestloved of her books. Snow flower and the secret fan is an ode to the redemptive and transformative power of friendship, regardless of social class. In the book, snow flower and the secret fan, there are many themes that pop up throughout the story. Snow flower and the secret fan is a frame tale, a story within a story, as told by an eightyyearold chinese woman, reflecting on her life and preparing for her death. Get all the key plot points of lisa sees snow flower and the secret fan on one page. Snow flower and the secret fan by see, lisa and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
The first edition of the novel was published in 2005, and was written by lisa see. In her fourth book, see has triumphed, writing an achingly beautiful, understated and absorbing story of lovesnow flower and the secret fan is so rich in. Lily prepares to leave her village, her family and snow flower, for her arranged marriage. The wellproduced snow flower and the secret fan has certain things also going for it in its rare thoughtful exploration of the friendship between two women, coupled with how china has a. Snow flower and the secret fan is a 2005 novel by lisa see set in nineteenthcentury china. Composer rachel portman brought the same level of grace and gentle melancholy to her score for the 19th century chinese drama snow flower and the secret fan as she did on previous, similarly themed efforts like never let me go, grey gardens, and the cider house rules. The book describes a very intense friendship between two women, lily and snow flower, who are linked together more closely than lovers. In the story, we are told again and again that women are weak and worthless. Discussion questions snow flower and the secret fan. Snow flower and the secret fan audiobook by lisa see.
In her fourth book, see has triumphed, writing an achingly beautiful, understated and absorbing story of love. Snow flower and the secret fan in my opinion i think of lily as being a tragic heroine. Its often difficult adapting a novel, especially a literary one like lisa sees snow flower and the secret fan, into a movie. Lisa see is the author of seven novels, including the critically acclaimed new york times bestsellers shanghai girls, peony in love and flower net which was nominated for an edgar award, the interior, and dragon bones. Snow flower and the secret fan 2011 rotten tomatoes. Jun 24, 2011 in 19thcentury china, seven year old girls snow flower and lily are matched as laotong or old sames bound together for eternity. The language in this book just took my breath away. This book made me feel as if i was there along with lily taking in all her troubles, her worries, her happiness, and fun times with her loatong. Snow flower and the secret fan summary from litcharts the. Snow flower and the secret fan by lisa see book club. Snow flower and the secret fan official trailer youtube. The exotica, fetishism and soap opera in lisa sees novel of 19thcentury china, snow flower and the secret fan, make. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Jan 02, 2007 snow flower and the secret fan is a triumph on every level, a beautiful, heartbreaking story washington post you can relish sees extraordinary novel as a meticulously researched account of womens lives in nineteenthcentury china.
The author sees snow flower and the secret fan as a novel about love and regret, but do you think theres also an element of atonement in it as well 9. The author sees snow flower and the secret fan as a novel about love and regret, but do you think theres also an element of atonement in it as well. Her only rebellion was nu shu, or secret womens writing, and she describes a fan sitting in front of her covered in nu shu notes she exchanged with her laotong bonded female companion, snow flower. It is a story so mesmerizing the pages float away and the story remains clearly before us from beginning to end.
Snow flower and the secret fan is a 2005 novel by lisa see set in nineteenth century china. Isolated by their families, they furtively communicate by taking turns writing in a secret language, nu shu, between the folds of a white silk fan. Goodreads members who liked snow flower and the secret fan. Lisa see is one of my favorite authors and i enjoy all her books and look forward to new novels as they are published. Snow flower and the secret fan by lisa see goodreads. Snow flower and the secret fan by lisa see, paperback.
But before her departure, snow flower gives her a secret gift. Snow flower and the secret fan summary from litcharts. Snow flower and the secret fan is a triumph on every level, a beautiful, heartbreaking story washington post you can relish sees extraordinary novel as a meticulously researched account of womens lives in nineteenthcentury china. Jul 01, 2005 a nuanced exploration of womens friendship and womens writing in a remote corner of imperial china. Free download or read online snow flower and the secret fan pdf epub book. The novel snow flower and the secret fan is written by lisa see which had taken place in china in 1800s. I learned a lot from reading this book about the ancient chinese customsfoot binding for women, secret writings women shared, the treatment of women in terms. As the narrator, she becomes the filter through which we must read all other characters in the novel, including lily herself. Snow flower and the secret fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. Snow flower and the secret fan major character analysis. Snow flower and the secret fan summary and study guide. Reviews for snow flower and the secret fan lisa sees official. Learn more about snow flower and the secret fan in the north carolina digital library digital collection.
Snow flower secret fan by lisa see, first edition abebooks passion for books. But apart from who i was with snow flower, i was resolved to be an honorable wife, a praiseworthy daughterinlaw, and a scrupulous mother. Snow flower and the secret fan is achingly beautiful, a marvel of imagination of a real and secret world that has only recently disappeared. Welcome to the litcharts study guide on lisa sees snow flower and the secret fan. She is one of five children, born the second daughter, a status considered to be low in the family.
1008 183 1001 360 882 1200 20 759 1425 900 288 38 1531 142 1605 1398 1200 991 733 1114 1487 995 1256 1535 228 1079 134 1113 1159 1156 91 1101 718 489 1378 729