Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel by Lisa See

I found this book hard to read in many ways, not because of poor writing, but because of the unrelenting sadness in the life of Lily, a 19th century Chinese girl from a poor country family. It begins by describing in great detail her foot binding at age seven. After that, her life narrows, mostly limited to a second story "women's room". She longs for her mother's love but is told daily she is worthless, her only value that of obedient daughter and wife. She is married off and leaves her home for that of her husband, where she is the lowest member of the household. The redeeming grace in her life is her friendship with Snow Flower, in a formalized relationship called a laotong which is intended to be more emotionally intimate and lasting than marriage. How this relationship transcends the other areas of her life, and is threatened by a misunderstanding, forms the core of the book. Lisa See is a very skilled writer and is able to clearly conjure a physical place and society so alien to ours. The reader is left pondering why a woman's beauty and value in that culture depended upon the smallness and shape of her feet. I was struck by an obvious parallel with breast size, and implants to achieve it, in our society. (

Yesterday's Embers (Clayburn Novels Series #3)… by Deborah Raney

Doug DeVore is suddenly widowed when his wife and daughter tragically die. He is left with five children and very few resources. He turns to Mickey Valdez, his children's day care teacher, a thirty year old single woman. For a lesser writer, this storyline would be a feel-good romance, a "love conquers all" exercise. But Deborah Raney offers more than that. She looks beneath the surface at what motivates DeVore, his loneliness, his feelings of being overwhelmed at caring for his children, his need for someone to take care of him as his wife had done. Kayeleigh, at 12 the oldest child, struggles with the loss of her mother along with normal adolescent insecurities and her resentment of Mickey drives a lot of the story. Mickey worries that life is passing her by, that she will never have the marriage and family she desires. How their relationship develops, and all the problems they encounter, from religious differences, the demands of so many children and money problems, to extended family pressures, give a sense of reality to their story. I had a real sense of getting to know this family. There is a strong Christian element to the story which motivates the characters and drives their decisions but this does not overpower the story.