Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a book talk and signing with Lisa See for her new novel Shanghai Girls. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the novel before her talk, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. The story begins in 1937 in Shanghai. Two sisters, May and Pearl, think of themselves as modern girls; girls who will marry for love rather than in an arranged marriage like their parents. But desperate times force their father to arrange marriages for both girls and soon they are on their way to Los Angeles to live with husbands they don't even know. Lisa is a wonderful story-teller, which she has proven once again. The vivid descriptions of Shanghai and the tragedies the girls live through when Japan invades, makes this a heart-wrenching story.
I have heard Lisa speak before, and she always talks about the history behind her stories, which is always interesting. She also talked a little bit about her own family history, which I never get tired of hearing about. The biography that she wrote about her family history, On Gold Mountain, is just fantastic and well worth reading. Lisa said that Shanghai Girls is the story closest to her heart and her next novel will be a sequel to this lovely story.
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