Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

 

Title:  Lady Tan’s Circle of Women

Author:  Lisa See

Narrated by:  Jennifer Lim and Justin Chien

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 15 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you @simonandschuster #BookClubFavorites for the free books!

Do you have a “circle of women?”  Family, friends, coworkers, a book club that support you?  Or would you like to have a supportive group?

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See is the story of a real 15^th century doctor in Chian, Tan Yunxian. The story starts with Yunxian as a small child. She loves her mother, but after her mother dies from a foot infection, she goes to live with her grandparents.  Both of her grandparents are doctors and they train her with their skills.  Being a doctor in the 15^th century is much different than now. The doctor was not allowed to touch any blood or bodily fluids. Male doctors couldn’t even be within sight of their female patients, which is what made it so invaluable to have a female doctor.  Grandmother pairs Yunxian with a young midwife, Meiling. The two have a great friendship that spans their lives through marriage and ups and downs.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women was a very engaging audiobook – I couldn’t stop listening.  I loved learning about the culture, but I also loved the mystery that was laced throughout the story that Yunxian solved at the end.  It was overall a great story of female friendship.  Jennifer Lim was a great narrator and Justin Chien narrated a short part at the end.

I loved the note at the end of the book that discussed that the real medical book that Tan Yunxian had written had started to go out of print, but her descendant found a copy of it in a private collection and had it reprinted.  This book uses that medical book and the scant details of her life to create a beautiful story. Author Lisa See fills in all of the details and has great descriptions of the era.  I have always enjoyed her books in the past.

The book does go into detail about foot binding.  I remember when I first read about foot binding in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.  From our modern times, it is still hard for me to figure out how binding feet until they rotted could have been considered attractive.  It sounds so painful and hard for a woman to actually walk.  I wonder who thought of this in the first place?  I wonder what beauty regime from now will be looked upon as strange in the future.  Any thoughts?

Favorite Quote:

“For much of my life I felt alone, but over the years a circle of women came to love me and I came to love each of those women in return.”

Laura’s Top Fourteen Books of 2019

I am behind on my top books list for 2019, but better late than never, right? I read a lot of outstanding books this past year and had a hard time narrowing my list down to only the top ten, so instead I am doing a top 14 books of the year.  I also noticed most are historical fiction or historical non-fiction books, you can definitely tell my favorite genre. These books were not necessarily books published in 2019, but they were books I read in 2019.  I did not include books that I was rereading, but only books that I’ve read for the first time. They are only in the order of when I read them through the year of 2019.  Click on the titles for the full review of the book.  And now without further ado, my top ten books of 2019.

The Gown by Jennifer Robson – The Gown was one of the first books I read in 2019 and it was one of the best.  It told the riveting story of the women who made Elizabeth II’s wedding gown and was a great look at the bleakness of life in post WWII era England.  

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – I read The Hate U Give as part of the Kewaunee Library book club and I don’t know if any other book has every prompted so much discussion on race and current news topics.  It was an eye-opening novel that gives you a different perspective.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn – The Huntress was set during and after WWII and told the story of three different women.  One is a daring aviatrix flying bombing raids for Russia, the other is a young girl in post WWII America with suspicions about her Step Mom, and the third is the Step Mom who may be more than she lets on with a secret cruel past in Nazi Germany.

Courting Mr. Lincoln by Louis Bayard – I still keep thinking about this novel.  It was a wonderful book about the relationship between Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln, and his best friend, Joshua Speed.  I couldn’t put this book down. I loved that the story framed Lincoln as the enigmatic lead that both Mary and Joshua loved.  The story was told through their point of view.  It reminded me again why Louis Bayard is one of my favorite historical fiction authors.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom – This non-fiction book was written in the 1970’s and tells Corrie Ten Boom’s story of her family, faith, and survival after being persecuted by the Nazis for helping Jewish people escape.  It was an inspiring read.

 

Refugee by Alan Gratz – This middle grade fiction read should not be missed by adults.  It is set in three different time frames and tells the story of a Jewish boy trying to flee German on a boat to America, a Cuban girl trying to flee Cuba to America, and a boy trying to flee Syria to Germany.  It gives a great understanding to the plight of a refugee and connects the stories wonderfully at the end.  This is a must read.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See – The Island of Sea Women told a part of history that I sadly knew nothing about.  The Island of JeJu is off the coast of Korea and is a matriarchal society run with its main industry being deep sea diving for fish by the women of the island.  As WWII looms, both Japan and Korea force atrocities on the island that will change their lives forever.  This is an unforgettable story.

 

The Summer Country by Lauren Willig – The Summer Country was another wonderful historical fiction novel that explores race and love.  This was another book I couldn’t put down once I started reading it.  It was a multi-layered Victorian story with a mystery involved.  Set on Barbados, the story dug into what it meant to be a slave and to own slaves in the society.  This novel was a Jane Austen manners novel, mixed with Charlotte Bronte gothic, with a modern look at race relations.  It also includes a Cholera epidemic, which is fitting for this year’s reading.

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham – Midnight in Chernobyl is a fascinating look at what lead up to the incident in Chernobyl and the aftermath.  It is non-fiction, but reads like fiction.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – I loved the mystery, nature, and romance of this novel.  I felt like it was a grown-up version of A Girl of the Limberlost.

The Martian by Andy Weir – Quite simply, The Martian is one of the best science fiction novels I’ve ever read.  The story itself was a fast-paced adventure, and I loved the real science involved.

The Only Plane in the Sky:  An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M.  Graff – The Only Plane in the Sky was the best audiobook I have ever listened to.  It was another book I just couldn’t stop listening to.  It used first person narration to tell the story of 9/11 in real time.  I think this is another must read for all Americans.

They Called Us Enemy byGeorge Takei – My 11-year-old son Daniel and I read this graphic novel together.  I have been a lifelong fan of George Takei loving him in Star Trek and now loving him on social media.  I love that he took the story of his life and has been telling it in person, with a play, and with this graphic novel so that we can take an honest look at our past and see that we did not always treat our citizens right.  Takei’s look at his childhood in the Japanese internment camps is both heartbreaking and eye opening.

The Testaments byMargaret Atwood – I was amazed that Margaret Atwood was able to follow up the unforgettable The Handmaid’s Tale with the Testaments, a novel that continues the story in the world of The Handmaid’s Tale and turns everything you thought you knew upside down.  This was another book that kept me up too late at night.

Other books I loved this year, but didn’t quite make my top 14 included:

• With this Pledge by Tamera Alexander
• Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
• Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
• The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• White Elephant by Trish Harnetiaux
• Best. Movie.  Year.  Ever: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raferty

For more top reads from the past, check out my lists from 2018, 2017 & 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007.

What were your favorite books of 2019?

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Title: The Island of Sea Women

Author: Lisa See

Read by:  Jennifer Lim

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 22 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

The Island of Sea Women is a riveting 20^th century family saga about forgiveness.  This novel / audiobook is destined to be on my top ten reads of 2019 list.

Young-Sook is a young Korean woman growing up on the island of Jeju which lies between Korea and Japan.  Her mother is the chief of their tribe of all-female divers.  Jeju is a matriarchal society where the women work all day diving for rare specimens from the sea to sell, while the men look after the children.  Young-Sook is a “baby diver” and is learning how to become a skilled diver like her mother when double tragedy strikes.  Helping her through all of life’s turmoil is her best friend Mi-ja.  Mi-ja is known as the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, but having Young-Sook and her mother’s acceptance helps her to navigate through her difficult life on the island as an orphan living with an unloving aunt and uncle.

As Mi-ja and Young-Sook grow older, they have remained close, but ultimately, they are driven apart.  What could make two such close friends become enemies?

The story also would flashforward to the future where an elderly Young-Sook is grappling with changes that have come to the island as one of the only haenyeo left.  While haenyeo used to retire at 50, there are no longer any young haenyeo and just elderly women that hold onto the tradition.  When an American family visits the island to ask questions about the past, Young-Sook has to face her demons and her choices.  Will Young-Sook be able to come to terms with the heartache of the past?

I loved the Island of Sea Women.  The women and their culture were vividly drawn in this novel.   The loved the characters.  The two parallel stories were beautifully woven together for a wonderful conclusion to this story. I didn’t know anything about this island, and my knowledge of the Korean War is very limited.  This helped to fill in the gaps for me. I’ll admit that one part of this novel had me loud sobbing on my drive to work.  I wonder what cars passing me thought?  It was horrifying, but the crux of the novel and beautifully written.

Narrator Jennifer Lim did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life.  I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook.

Overall, The Island of Sea Women is historical fiction at it’s best – heartfelt, riveting, and a great way to learn history that you may not know about otherwise.