Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

If You Liked...Suggestions for Further Reading

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

• Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991)
  Pressured by her adult American-born daughter, an emigree reveals the secrets of her nightmarish past in war-torn China of the 1940s, including her own mother’s desertion, a horrific arranged marriage, and a cultural revolution. (This novel is one of Lisa See’s favorites.)
• Jung Chang, Wild Swans: three daughters of China (1991)
  The tumultuous history of 20th century China unfolds in this riveting story of three generations of women. Reading like a page-turning novel, Jung Chang’s memoir recounts the story of her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her parents, idealistic young Communists betrayed by Mao’s Cultural revolution; and the author’s own triumphant survival through stints as a member of the Red Guard, a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician, before leaving China in 1978.
• Ruthanne Lum McCunn, The Moon Pearl (2000)
  Like Snow Flower, this novel offers a glimpse into a nearly-forgotten piece of 19th century Chinese female history. Rather than submit to lives as obedient wives, three young women become outcasts when they choose to live independently in a “spinster house,” supporting themselves through their work in the silk industry.
• Lan Samantha Chang, Inheritance (2004)
  In 1930s China, sisters Junan and Yinan are drawn even closer together by their mother's suicide; after their father’s gambling debts lead to Junan’s arranged marriage, Yinan’s betrayal of her sister shatters the bond between them and causes a rift in their family that spans generations and continents.
• Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth (1931)
  This timeless Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the moving story of farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-lan, set amid the vast political and social upheavals of 20th century China.
• Anita Diamant, The Red Tent (1997)
  Though her name is merely mentioned in the Book of Genesis, the story of Dinah is vividly created through the weaving together of stories from the Bible and the author’s own imagination. The red tent is where women gathered during their cycles of menses, birthing, and illness. Diamant creates a rich, earthy picture of what women’s life may have been like amid the the tradition, passion, and violence of biblical times.

Major Character List

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Lily’s birth family (the Yi Family)

• Mama & Baba
  • Elder Brother
  • Elder Sister
  • Lily
  • Third Sister
  • Baby Brother
• Auntie & Uncle
  • Beautiful Moon: their only child and Lily’s beloved cousin

Lily’s marital family (the Lu Family)

• Uncle Lu: the wealthy head of the family, a jinshi (the highest level of
  imperial scholar) who lived in the capital
• Master Lu: Lily’s father-in-law, who supervised the family’s holdings
• Madame Lu: Lily’s mother-in-law, demanding but fair
• Husband: a “good catch”: handsome, successful, and kind
• Eldest son: bright and inquisitive, a scholar
• Second son: good and smart
• Jade: Lily’s plain daughter

Snow Flower’s family

• Father & Mother: once powerful and wealthy, but destroyed by his opium addiction
• Husband: a lowly butcher, resourceful but brutal
• Mother-in-law: selfish and cruel
• Eldest son: gentle but frail
• Second son: strong and brave
• Spring Moon: Snow Flower’s lovely first daughter
• Peony: Snow Flower’s granddaughter

The matchmakers

• Madame Gao: the local matchmaker
• Madame Wang: the matchmaker from Tongkou who brought Lily & Snow Flower together as “old sames” and arranged their marriages

Discussion Questions

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

1. If you were transported to the time and place of the novel, would you prefer to be a “lily-footed” lady of wealth and privilege, or “big-footed”, i.e. either a servant or "little daughter-in-law" (a sexual plaything for the men in the household)? Given a choice, do you think any Chinese women of that era would willingly choose to be big-footed?
2. Once they survived the ordeal, neither Lily nor Snow Flower questions the custom of foot binding, even when they see the death and crippling disability that accompany it. Are you able to understand this on any level? Do you think Lisa See’s own comparison of foot binding with breast augmentation is fair?
3. Can you imagine that there are any parts of our culture that future societies might find as incomprehensible as we find foot binding?
4. One reviewer has written: “…indeed, it’s clear that the girls’ true romantic
   relationship is with each other, not the men they marry.” Do you agree? At the very least, the two women share erotic moments. Do you think that this was a natural part of the relationship between two “old-sames,” or a unique aspect of Lily and Snow Flower’s laotong relationship?
5. Is Lily a likeable character? Did you admire her? Or identify with her in any way? Do you think her self-reproachment is fully deserved? Does she succeed in achieving atonement? Is Snow Flower herself beyond criticism?
6. Given the vast chasm between cultures, is it even possible for a modern reader to judge the behavior of the novel’s characters?
7. Were you surprised by the often harsh relationships between mothers and their daughters and daughters-in-law? Or does it strike a chord to learn that the Chinese character for "mother love" consists of two parts, one meaning "pain" and the other meaning "love”?
8. Snow Flower excuses her husband's beatings by saying, "He loves me as best he can. Everything will be better now. You'll see. He has had a change of heart." This has a very familiar ring to our modern-day ears—do you think that the author is projecting contemporary sociology onto 18th century China, or that the nature of abuse is universal and has remained constant across history and cultures?
9. How about the nature of friendship? Do you think that it is universal among
   cultures? Do you have the equivalent of an “old-same” or “sworn sisters” in your life?
10. Lily and Snow Flower’s estrangement is caused by Lily’s failure to grasp
    The nuance of her friends nu-shu. Can you think of ways in which modern
    forms of communication present similar opprtunities for misunderstanding?
11. Are there any elements of Lily’s life that you might envy?
12. An Amazon.com reader wrote: “What was so wonderful about it was that I
    actually felt I was part of their world and totally accepted their view of life as my own.” How does that statement compare with your response to the novel?