Although I was excited to read this book, I was very let down. The premise of the story was interesting, and I have read other books about historical China and really enjoyed them. I did not care for this book. I really did not find myself caring what happened to the main characters, and I was VERY disappointed by the ending - much to abrupt even if it is setting up for a sequel. All in all, if you want to read a good book by this author I would recommend Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

Lisa See's book about China in 1937 stretching until shortly after the reign of communism begins is probably the most difficult book I have ever rated.

Ever.

Going into this review I fully understand I was not raised in the Chinese culture and well, I'm white. I don't understand the reactions of the characters to situations and other characters. That's why while I say this book is the most depressing book I have ever read and I actually sympathize with the character who committed suicide because this book offered little hope and out of all 300 pages or so, you saw 2 paragraphs of happiness and even that was strained.

The book begins with Pearl and May, 2 sisters in Shanghai when they are roughly 18 and 21. Pearl, the oldest, is immediately identified as the lesser sister in their parents eyes having to endure demeaning ridicule and comparison to her younger, prettier, and daintier sister, May. As Pearl is telling this story in first person, you really feel how sad and embarrassed she is of herself. However, through it all, even with her parents obviously favoritism of her sister May, she takes care of her, and protects her, being her jie jie.

In the first few chapters we realize their Baba (father) is a gambling man who lost everything to debtors, even his own daughters in an arranged marriage. Up until then they always thought that unlike their parents, they would be able to marry for love and choose their partner themselves. They meet with Sam and Vern, the two men they will be marrying, which is out of tradition, but they are allowed to meet once before the wedding. Sam is a quiet and handsome man, very caring and mindful, while Vern is naught but 14 and very good at it, even a little less than mature. Pearl is to marry Sam, May is to marry Vern.

A little while later, 17 days, their new husbands to be are due for return from a "business trip" from Hong Kong for the marriage ceremony to take place. They after dodging, and Pearl being in love with another man, realize they have no choice to go through with it and they do.

When japan declares war on China, the city is bombed, people are dying all around them, and in defiance, they threw away the tickets that would have taken them to America to meet their husbands. When things get back, and their father either runs off from his debtors or is killed, their mother and them start trying to make their own way to America using the little money their mother stowed away from their father's gambling habit.

Through rape, the death of their mother, and persistence, they finally board a ship to take them to Angel Island, the west's version of Ellis Island. They find out May is pregnant, and not by her 14 year old husband, so while in detainment before being allowed to go home to their husbands, Pearl decides to raise the baby as her own since she had actually had sex with her husband on the wedding night.

If you are looking for a happy life in America, it's not here. If this sounds sad thus far, it only gets worse. It's more of May being terrible and selfish toward her sister, living in a tradition Chinese home with her in laws, her husband, her sister, and her sister's husband who is not only younger, and a very sweet boy, is ill with disease and mentally slow. The daughter that Pearl raises, Joy, is an absolute ingrate towards the end and continues to step all over her mother, and even her good natured and strong father. May is continually selfish being the almost privileged girl in life and blaming her poor sister who has done nothing but sacrificed for her.

If you either understand the culture, both traditionally and the earlier to mid turn of the 20th century or are just one of those people who don't mind being surrounded in misery from first to last page, then I have never read a better book for you. Being I am not, I didn't really enjoy the book on an emotional level, but the story is well written and flows enough to keep you interested and hoping for a better ending that never comes.

I really loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love, however, Shanghai Girls was not the same for me. I hate the ending of the book, which leaves a million questions to the reader. If there is a sequel, I won't read it. I liked the main character, Pearl, well enough, but did not particularly care for her sister, May. About halfway through the book, I found it so boring that I almost put it down. I did continue reading it and finished it, but I could only give this book two stars. Lisa See's two previous books mentioned earlier were much, much better - this one was a disappointment.

Really disappointing ending.

First Line: "Our daughter looks like a South China peasant with those red cheeks," my father complains, pointedly ignoring the soup before him.

Lisa See is a master of immersing her readers in a time and a culture completely different from their own. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was one of my top reads the year that I read it, and I couldn't wait to begin reading See's latest.

The 1930s are drawing to a close. Two sisters, Pearl and May, enjoy their lifestyle. They are "calendar girls"--what we would call models. Their faces sell dozens of different products. They wear the latest Western fashions. They party late. They like to ignore their rich parents. If a ceiling fan disappears or a few servants seem to have gone missing, Pearl and Mae pay little attention. They are young, beautiful, and they live in Shanghai--the Paris of Asia.

Their world falls to pieces when they learn that their father has gambled away his wealth and sold them as brides to two Chinese brothers living in California in order to clear his debts. They throw away their tickets to Los Angeles and go on modeling and going to parties, learning too late that their behavior cost them their chance to flee the invading Japanese. Going through hell to escape Shanghai, they make their way to California only to be kept at Angel Island--the Ellis Island of the West Coast of the United States. The next twenty years will bring many changes to their lives.

In so many ways, this book succeeds brilliantly. The author took my imagination straight to the streets of Shanghai and into the lives of two very young and selfish girls who can step over the body of a dead baby in the street on their way to a party, neither of them seeing anything wrong. This is one of the things I love about See's writing: the way she matter-of-factly opens my eyes to a totally alien culture.

The Japanese invasion of Shanghai was vivid, as was the two sisters' escape from the city. The endless months they were forced to spend on Angel Island made me a bit stir crazy, and Pearl's life in Los Angeles was depressing to the extreme.

Where the book failed for me was in the characterizations. I don't care for books in which all the male characters are depicted as lazy, stupid, weak, ego maniacal or just plain evil. Pearl's husband Sam was the sole decent male in the entire lot, and even he had his moments of weakness.

I also have to admit that I found the two main characters, May and Pearl, to be extremely irritating. May is the one who thinks only of herself. As long as she's being complimented and has plenty of pretty clothes to wear and fancy transportation, she's fit to live with. If those things don't happen, she's a pain in the neck. Pearl, on the other hand, is the classic martyr-- always sublimating herself in order to kowtow to what everyone else wants--and being oh so brave about it the entire time.

The ending of the book was rather abrupt. Almost a classic cliffhanger involving Pearl's spoiled daughter. It will be interesting to see if this does set up a sequel.

You may wonder why I still gave this book such a good rating. Such is the power of Lisa See's writing. Her depiction of Shanghai and Los Angeles during that time period and her description of culture in both Shanghai and the Chinatown of Los Angeles are so powerful that I can forget about wanting to shake some sense into both May and Pearl.

I am a character-driven reader. It is very seldom that I'm able to rate a book highly when I don't care for any of the people in it. In the case of Shanghai Girls, I think of the streets of Shanghai, the sights, the smells, bombs exploding, working in the shops of Chinatown in Los Angeles...the vivid canvas See painted is what I think of, not Pearl and May.

Many of my friends have recommended (more like insisted!) that I read Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, but I have just not had a chance to get to it yet. But when I read the description for her new novel, I knew I didn't want to wait to read it. It was everything I was expecting - a wonderful story that drew me in from the very beginning!

The story of Pearl and her younger sister May starts in 1930s Shanghai. The descriptions of the city and the sisters' lifestyle are vivid and enthralling. I really felt like I was there. After the girls' father gambles away his livelihood, the two sisters are forced to marry to help settle their father's debt. But it's not that simple. When the Japanese attack China, everything changes and the girls struggle to leave the country. Their journey out of China is heartwrenching and I found it hard to put the book down.

Arriving in San Francisco, the girls find that not everything is what they thought it was, and they spend months in detainment before they are allowed into the country. They finally arrive in Los Angeles Chinatown, and realize that their lives will never be the same again.

The main focus of the story is the relationship between the two sisters, and the constant pull between their old life in China and their new life in Los Angeles. I found the descriptions of how the Chinese were treated before, during, and after WWII to be both supremely interesting and sad. Having lived in the Los Angeles area my entire life, I now have an even greater appreciation for the Chinese who worked so hard and overcame so much to make their new lives in America.

The ending definitely left me wanting more! I can only hope that there is a sequel in the works, because I want to know what happens next!

I devoured this book in only a few days (I work full-time and have 3 little boys, so that is no small feat!), because I couldn't stop reading it. I highly recommend it! And you can be sure I won't wait much longer to read this author's other novels.

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I agree with another reader who was very dissapointed in the abrupt ending of this book. I had listened to it on audio and went back to my computer to see if I had missed dowloading part 3, but there was no part 3! It just ended!! Maybe the author is planning a sequel or couldnt decide how to end the story, but it was a big dissapointment. The story was interesting up to that point, she writes well but this book does not compare to Snowflower and the Secret Fan.

Fantastic reading, the story flows and keeps you interested. I was a little disappointed with the ending, but the book was definatley worth reading!

My first Lisa See book was "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" which I enjoyed immensely. I followed it up with "Peony In Love" which was very disappointing. So, with her latest release, "Shanghai Girls," I was wondering what I would think.

Unfortunately, I found it to be another disappointment. It is an historical novel but there is no character development, particularly of the child, Joy - no descriptive of her physical presence or personality until she is in college. I felt like I was reading a journal or travelogue. And, don't even get me started on the ending... Not only is Joy's decision is incredibly unrealistic but when I turned the last page I was shocked to find the story had abruptly ended. Perhaps there will be a sequel - but I won't be reading it!

See has written a compelling story of 2 sisters in war-torn China. She offers insight into the traditions of China, and is, at times, brutally realistic about the struggles Chinese people would have faced in coming to America in the early or mid-20th century. I relished See's descriptions of the places and people, and enjoyed recognizing familiar landmarks here in Los Angeles. It was a very worthwhile read, though I was disappointed by the open-endedness of the storyline, perhaps meant to invite a sequel.

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