Bridget: 25/26: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

This was a truly excellent book. I would recommend anyone to read this. This is more of a woman's novel than one that a man would prefer to read but Lisa See is a really wonderful writer. I laughed, I cried and really relished reading this book.

The story describes the relationship between two girls from two different towns who are bonded through a "laotong" relationship. In early China it was considered beautiful for women to bind their feet and make them the size and shape of a lotus (some as small as 3.5 inches long!). Two girls were bonded together by a matchmaker to keep an intimate friendship where they learned a woman's writing language called "nu shu" and passed messages to one another on a fan. This story follows the women through visits to each woman's natal village, to marriage, childbirth, and death. It was a truly moving book. I liked it better than both the Joy Luck Club and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Highly recommended.