If you have read any of my books, it’s pretty easy to see that China’s last empress, the Dowager Empress Cixi, is a recurring character. Who was Empress Cixi and why do I write about her? Empress Cixi was born in 1835 to a poor and unimportant Manchu family, but she didn’t remain in obscurity for Read More
Search Results for: foot binding
Book Review: The Palest Ink by Kay Bratt
Check out my interview with Kay Bratt here. Be sure to read all the way to the end for a chance to win a copy of The Palest Ink. About The Palest Ink A sheltered son from an intellectual family in Shanghai, Benfu spends 1966 anticipating a promising violinist career and an arranged marriage. On Read More
Netflix's Marco Polo – Review
My husband and I spent the last week binge watching Marco Polo, Netflix’s answer to HBO’s Game of Thrones and Starz’ Outlander. Marco Polo is about the son of an Italian merchant, trader, and explorer who was left at the court of Kublai Khan (the Emperor of the Mongols) around 1273. Marco Polo was the most expensive Read More
Book Review: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is about many things: a girl growing up in rural China in the 19th century; foot binding; nushu; arranged marriages; friendship; a woman’s place in the world; refection; regret. To try and sum-up what the book is about would not do it justice; to talk about Read More
Who Writes History – Conversations With Jung Chang
I have written and spoken many times about how wonderful her book is, but I am often met with skepticism. Cixi has a reputation, in the East and the West, of being a controlling, manipulative, traditionalist who held China back and is blamed for many of China’s problems during the 19th century. Yet in Empress Read More
Interview With Lisa See, Author of The Red Princess Mysteries
Lisa See is best known for her historical novels, especially Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I reviewed here. But she also wrote a fabulous mystery series back in 1997. I recently read all three of the Red Princess mystery books and really enjoyed them. Lisa was kind enough to answer a few questions Read More
Unbound Feet
On Monday, I was privileged enough to visit a kindly old woman who lives across the street from Zoe’s grandmother in rural Hunan. This is her story. I was born in 1924. I don’t remember how old I was when my mother first bound my feet, all I remember was the pain. My mother would force me Read More