Book Review: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
In Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See, the author returns to the rich terrain of historical China to tell a deeply moving story about female friendship, resilience, and the pursuit of purpose in a world bound by rigid expectations. Inspired by the true story of Tan Yunxian, a 15th-century female physician, this novel is as intimate as it is expansive.
From a young age, Yunxian is taught medicine by her grandmother — a rare privilege in a society that limits women’s roles to the domestic sphere. As she comes of age, she forms a powerful bond with Meiling, a midwife’s daughter. Their shared dedication to women’s health and healing binds them together, even as the demands of class, marriage, and tradition threaten to pull them apart.
See’s portrayal of Yunxian’s world is vivid and immersive. She captures the textures of Ming Dynasty life — its rituals, hierarchies, and unspoken rules — with stunning detail. But it is the emotional core of the novel that resonates most: the unbreakable bonds between women who support each other through loss, injustice, and joy.
At its heart, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a celebration of the power of female community. In a world where women are often silenced or dismissed, Yunxian dares to speak, to heal, and to make a difference. Her story is not only about survival, but about shaping a legacy through compassion and knowledge.
Lisa See has crafted a moving, empowering tale that honors the real women who practiced medicine centuries ago, often in secret and always with courage. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a testament to friendship, purpose, and the transformative power of women’s lives — both past and present.
About Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.
From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.
But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.
How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
