The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang

Thanks to Sphere and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for a review. This review contains my honest thoughts.

Starting the year with this sisterhood saga historical fiction set in late 19th century China felt important and apt. In The Lotus Shoes, Little Flower is raised in a loving, but poor, family. From the age of four, her mother has diligently taught her her worth in the world, making sure to carefully bind her feet to ensure she’d have the perfect ‘golden lilies’ – a ladylike sign that you’re worthy of being married. But, Little Flower is soon sold as a ‘muizai’ (a domestic servant in an affluent household; directly translating to ‘little sister’ in Cantonese) to the Fong household.

Linjing also knows her worth. Born to a wealthy family, she is her father’s favourite and has servants to cater to her every whim and, soon, Little Flower becomes her newest. Yet when her beloved father decides to leave her feet unbound – making a case for modern values – Linjing’s perfect bubble is burst. How can she be a lady and master to Little Flower and her golden lilies?

Beautifully told in lush, meandering prose, The Lotus Shoes charters the story of Little Flower and Linjing as their worlds converge in a tangle of resilience, self-belief, jealousy, sisterhood, femininity and womanhood in a fast-changing new world between Shanghai and Hong Kong. The characters are markedly opposite in every which way, creating wonderful tension and an obvious parallel and rivalry. Little Flower builds and builds on the essential values instilled in her from a young age, while Linjing is our flawed second main character; conniving, jealous, reckless and shallow. For Yang’s debut, this is a brilliantly immersive, moving tale. I had a few issues with pacing and the end chapters felt like they might’ve been written by somebody else, but this is quickly patched over by the incredibly sharp vignettes Yang paints to deepen the story and paint China’s cultural history, and its societal and gender values. This is a dual perspective story, which of course might not work for everybody, but does a great job in highlighting the marked frustration of each character. A gorgeous, moving story with a syrup-slow pace.

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