It is difficult to say whether it is the quality of the writing or simply the astounding difference between cultures painted in painful detail that so captivates the reader of Lisa See's work. I recently finished "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," and am currently reading "Peony in Love." Both works focus on the lives of young women and girls growing up in a China where perfectly bound feet are a mark of female perfection. The details See shares with her readers are full of pain, both physical and mental; small girls walk on broken toes, while the women around them sing songs that degrade and constantly remind the girls that they are a result of a failure of their mothers' wombs. See introduces a new type of love in which the people who love these women treat them harshly and distantly to prepare them for life. See's books are not full of joy and triumph; rather, they unveil unfathomable experiences with a refreshing truthfulness.
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