NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A gifted writer . . . explores the bonds of sisterhood while powerfully evoking the often nightmarish American immigrant experience.”—USA TodayBONUS: This edition contains a Shanghai Girls discussion guide and an excerpt from Lisa See’s Dreams of Joy.In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, … wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.
As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.
At its heart, Shanghai Girls is a story of sisters: Pearl and May are inseparable best friends who share hopes, dreams, and a deep connection, but like sisters everywhere they also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. They love each other, but each knows exactly where to drive the knife to hurt the other the most. Along the way they face terrible sacrifices, make impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel hold fast to who they are: Shanghai girls.
Praise for Shanghai Girls
“A buoyant and lustrous paean to the bonds of sisterhood.”–Booklist
“A rich work . . . as compulsively readable as it is an enlightening journey.”—Denver Post
more
A great read, I had a hard time starting the book but then couldn’t put it down. I often got mad at the selfish younger sister but began to see her side as I moved into the story. ******Spoiler alert**************
I do not like a book that ends with the character walking off to the beginning of the next book. It was as if the author just wrote …
Wow. This is one of those books that is not an easy read at all, but I learned so much, and I’m so grateful for that. It opened my eyes to the hardships of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. in the late 1930s and years following. Shanghai Girls is packed with history but carried by the story of two sisters who respond to challenges in opposite ways. …
Some women have led sad lives. But still manage to come out on top or at least close to the top.
She is wonderful writer. I read all her books.
Very good story and very interesting to learn about Chinese culture.
I started Shanghai Girls and couldn’t put it down, even when it was hard going. See is unafraid to put her characters in danger, show the prejudices rampant in society––both Chinese and American––and the hardships endured daily, from 1937 moving forward to the sixties. (I’m not quite done, but I feel confident recommending this book without …
I learned so much from this book about the Chinese migration to America. At first I thought it was going to be an entertaining women’s novel. I was so wrong! Fantastic author!
I unfortunately read DREAMS OF JOY first. I wish I had read them in chronological order even though I enjoyed them both immensely. Both are quick reads though I think SHANGHAI GIRLS works best as a wonderful set up for DREAMS OF JOY.
SHANGHAI GIRLS is the dramatic story of two sisters, Pearl and May, born in Shanghai on the eve of the Japanese …
I loved this book because I enjoy the story line along with realistic historical fiction. I would definitely recommend this book
Every book by Lisa See is a winner. She shares a Chinese experiences in way the rest of us can understand.
Shanghai Girls isn’t a new release. Lisa See is new to me and if Shanghai Girls is an indication of her work, I’m enthralled. This historical fiction taught me aspects of Asian-American history during the early 1930s – late 1950s, culture, and philosophy about which I was totally unaware. The characters are interesting, flawed and complex. I …
It’s been a few days since I’ve finished reading this book and I’m still emotional. Every time I think about all the suffering the characters endured, I get choked-up and teary eyed. The beauty, the tragedy… the book is so much of what I wanted and even more. The only thing that bothered me ***SPOILER ALERT*** was the death of Pearl’s husband. I …
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See is the first book I have read by this author. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read Dream of Joy since the book ends on a cliff hanger.
The book covers 20 years of Peal and May’s life and in some ways I feel things were skipped over that could use more details and other sections had so much detail that in …
Set in 1937, this story is about 2 sisters whose father informs them he has gambled away their money and must sell them to California men to pay his debts.
Even though the content of the story was often very heavy in nature, I still really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed. Once I got past the first 50 pages, the story really moved along at a good pace. I also felt like I received good cultural and history lessons on some topics that I’ve never read much about, even in school. The …
An era in LA I knew nothing about.
Anything by Lisa See is wort reading
Gave me such an insight about China and how it changed after communism set in. I did purchase the sequel about Joy. I grew up in the 60’s and can still hear my Mom talking about the starving people in China!
Not my favorite Lisa See book, but one worth reading because of its memorable characters and its accurate description of life in China in the 1930s and the restrictions and prejudice faced by the Chinese in America in the 40s and 50s.
I think the writing was good and obviously very well researched. I did not like the ending–the reader was left hanging and it was almost like she didn’t know how to end it and decided to just stop writing.