Author: Jane Yang
Publication Information: Park Row. 2025. 368 pages.
ISBN: 0778310671 / 978-0778310679
Rating: ★★★★★
Book Source: I received this book through NetGalley and a publisher's blog tour free of cost in exchange for an honest review.
Opening Sentence: "I sat shivering on a low stool in our farmhouse kitchen."
Favorite Quote: "We cannot let them win ... They own our bodies but they will never have our souls. Those are ours, always."
***** BLOG TOUR *****
Review
From Shanxi in 19th century China, this book brings the story of slavery, child labor, the limited options for women, the even more limited options for the poor, and foot binding. As a very young child, Little Flower is sold into slavery. She is to be muizai. The word itself means "little sister". However, the reality is far from that meaning. A muizai is taken into a rich household to be a personal assistant for a child of that family. The arrangement is to last their entire lives although some may be liberated by being allowed to marry at a certain age. In certain households, it was looked upon as a form of charity for the muizai would provided a better life than the one she comes from. However, that was not often the reality. As the book description states, "A muizai is a mistress’s shadow. You are there to do her bidding…"
Little Flower is brought into a household to be the muizai for Linjing. The book follows these two children as they grow up and into their adult lives. Through their eyes and through this household, we see the culture and customs of 19th century China and particularly of the role of women.
Little Flower is sold to provide a better life for her brother. She has bound feet, which was an expression of her mother's love as it may have offered her a chance at a better marriage and a better life. She has also been taught and is talented at embroidery, which is deemed an art of the rich. This too is in effort to lead her too a better life. In the Fong's household, she is at times cared for but has no freedom and no self-determination. Her hopes - her bound feet, the promise of a possible marriage, and her embroidery - are gradually taken away. "Yet experience had taught me that promises from the genteel class were not to be relied upon if my safety clashed with their self-interest." Yet, she perseveres through every turn. "To live as well as I could within the confines of slavery would be my best revenge."
Linjing is the daughter of the first wife. She is a favorite of her father's. However, she is a girl. Her mother sets expectations of perfection, and Linjing suffers in comparison to Little Flower. Unfortunately, that kind of love leads Linjing to retaliate against the one person in her control - Little Flower. "You ... are lowborn. I'm a lady. These facts are as solid as the ground we stand on." This leads to disastrous outcomes many times in their lives.
"But we lived in a hierarchy that favored men. Women, be it peasant or lady, first wife or mentor wives, were pitches against each other, fighting among themselves for scraps of power and security." Through the women surrounding these girls, the book brings in the role of women through so many different facets:
- Little Flower's mother makes the decision to sell her because she sees no other option.
- Linjing's mother is the first wife of the Fong household. However, her inability to produce a male heir and the decisions she makes in that quest determine the direction of her life.
- An aunt choose a celibate life to escape a marriage.
- A matriarch dispenses cruelty in every direction.
- A second wife who delivers a son finds her position elevated.
- A missionary attempts to help but demonstrates a lack of understanding of the culture and an inability understanding first and then attempt to change.
The book is tragic, and, at times, graphic in its descriptions of slavery and torture (reader beware!). Both the girls - Little Flower and Linjing - are compelling characters, and I find myself reading furiously to see how things turn out for them.
That being said, I am not sure how I feel about the ending. Given the entire book and the time and place, I am not sure that what happens in this book would actually have happened. It's hard to discuss without a spoiler! While the rest of the book is emotional and compelling, the ending seems abrupt and not entirely believable. It undermines the rest of the book, but nevertheless, a powerful debut novel. I look forward to seeing what Jane Yang writes next.
About the Book
A muizai is a mistress’s shadow. You are there to do her bidding…19th Century China. Tightly bound feet, or "golden lilies," are the mark of an honorable woman. When Little Flower is sold as a maidservant to Linjing, a daughter of the prominent Fong family, she clings to the hope that her golden lilies will someday lead her out of a life of slavery.
Not only does Little Flower have bound feet—uncommon for a muizai—but she is gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with women of fortune. Resentful of her talents, Linjing does everything in her power to prevent Little Flower from escaping. But when scandal strikes the Fongs, both women are cast out to the Celibate Sisterhood, where Little Flower’s talents catch the eye of a nobleman, threatening not only her improved status, but her life—the Sisterhood punishes disobedience with death. And if Linjing finds out, will she sabotage Little Flower to reclaim her power, or will she protect her?
Richly atmospheric and profoundly moving, The Lotus Shoes is an empowering tale of two women from opposite sides of society, and their extraordinary journey of sisterhood, betrayal, love and triumph.
About the Author
Jane Yang was born in the Chinese enclave of Saigon and raised in Australia where she grew up on a diet of superstition and family stories from Old China. Despite establishing a scientific career, first as a pharmacist and later in clinical research, she is still sometimes torn between modern, rational thinking and the pull of old beliefs in tales that have been passed down the family. Jane’s family tales are an inspiration for her writing. She writes stories about women in pre-Communist China, exploring power and class struggles, and sometimes with a dash of suspense, spirits and hauntings.Excerpt
One
Little Flower
I sat shivering on a low stool in our farmhouse kitchen. The frosty air stung my cheeks and chilled my hands and feet until they hurt. To warm up, I rubbed my arms and legs. Though it never snowed in southern China, this winter in the sixth year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign felt brutally cold. Normally, I would still be curled beneath our patched quilt, but my aa noeng had woken me at first light.
“We are going on an adventure today,” she announced, turning to me with a basin of boiling water. For the first time in months, her thin, pale face broke into a smile. But it wasn’t a proper sparkling smile, like the ones she used to shower on me before my aa de died. This smile looked stiff, and her eyes remained dull.
“I’m taking you to Canton City,” she continued. “Farmer Tang will give us a ride on his cart.” She poured cold water into the basin. I squealed, clapping with delight. I had never been to Canton City, but I had heard all about it from traveling storytellers. Peddlers prowled the streets, selling sugared plums, sweet buns and roasted chestnuts. My belly grumbled at the thought of them, reminding me that I had not eaten since yesterday’s bowl of watery congee. The storytellers also boasted of traveling acrobats, men who swallowed live snakes, and puppet shows.
“Is Little Brother coming too?” I asked.
“He is too young,” she said. “I’ve sent him to our neighbor for the day. This is a mother-and-daughter trip.”
“Why are we going?” “Little girls should not ask questions,” she chided. “Good girls keep quiet, follow rules and obey grown-ups.” Her tone was mild, but her face sagged with misery, frightening me into silence.
She knelt in front of me, cradling my golden lilies in her palms. “Do you remember why I started binding your feet when you were only four?” she asked.
“Because…because…” I shook my head. With a heavy sigh she explained, “Other six-year-old girls in our village wouldn’t start foot-binding until now. Some farming families might even wait until their daughter is seven or eight, if they’re desperate for an extra worker around the house. But that is risky. Do you know why?”
I shook my head again. “The bones might already be too stiff to be shaped. I love you so much that I bound your feet two years ago, as though you’re a little lady, to make sure you get perfect golden lilies so you can be like Consort Yao Niang. Do you remember her story?”
“I do!” Eager to impress her, I merrily recited the bedtime tale she had often told me. “Once upon a time, before the Manchu invaded and when China was cut up into lots of little kingdoms, like a patchwork quilt, there lived an emperor called Li Yu. He loved to see new things. One day he asked his many, many wives to surprise him with a new dance. Everyone tried but no one was good enough except Yao Niang. She wrapped her feet into crescents and danced on her toes!”
“What else?” she quizzed.
I frowned.
She prompted, “The emperor was so impressed that he promoted her to Royal Imperial Consort—”
“Oh!” With a bounce I finished her sentence, “So no other wife could boss Yao Niang around except the empress. All the ladies of the court copied her and soon rich girls across the country started to do the same. Now all re-respectable girls have bound feet. And the most loving mothers make sure their daughters have perfect four-inch golden lilies.”
I expected the rest of my speedy answer would earn praise, especially since I had only stumbled on two characters, but Aa Noeng’s lips trembled. I reached out to hug her, but she shook her head as she straightened her back and smoothed her faded tunic-blouse, ou.
“Even the poorest boy might hope to pass the imperial exams and become a mandarin if he is clever and studious,” she said, “but a girl’s only chance for a better life is through her golden lilies. This is my priceless gift to you. No matter what happens, I want you always to remember how much I love you. You’re my precious pearl. Do you understand?”
“I love you this much too!” I swung my arms behind my back until my palms touched. But she didn’t return my smile.
“Why is it important to have perfect four-inch golden lilies?” she asked.
“To get a good marriage,” I chirped. “Matchmakers and mothers-in-law like tiny feet. Golden lilies are proof of a girl’s goodness.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Only girls with immense endurance and discipline can get perfect golden lilies. This is what mothersin-law from nice families want for their sons.” She squeezed my hands and asked, “Do you want to marry into a nice family when you grow up?”
“Yes.”
“How do you get four-inch golden lilies?” she asked.
“I must sit very still when you clean my feet and change my bandages.”
“What else?”
“I mustn’t complain when you tighten the bindings.”
“That’s true,” she replied slowly. “But…” After a long pause she said, “You are a big girl now. It’s time you learned to take care of your golden lilies yourself.”
“I’m still little!” I protested, alarmed by her grave tone.
“Watch carefully,” she instructed. She unraveled the binding and eased my left foot into the basin of warm water. She massaged away the dead skin on the sole and between my toes. Next she trimmed my toenails and wrapped my foot in a towel before sprinkling alum onto it.
“Be sure to use a generous amount of alum,” she said. “It wards off sweat and itch.”
She wound a length of clean, dark blue cotton around and around my foot. The pressure increased with each layer until my foot throbbed and my eyes ached with unshed tears. I had to use all my willpower not to groan. She continued to wrap the bindings, much more tightly than usual. I tried to pull my foot away. She gripped it harder. “Stay still,” she ordered.
“Aa Noeng,” I cried. “It hurts too much.”
“Hush,” she said. “One day these golden lilies will bring you a good marriage. You will wear silk and live in a house with tiled floors. Best of all, you will never go hungry again.”
My whimpering faded as she continued to talk about the tasty food that would fill my belly when I become a bride in a wellto-do family. Finally, she eased my foot into my best pair of indigo cotton shoes. She pushed the basin toward me.
“Now you must do the same for your right foot,” she said.
Buy Links
HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-lotus-shoes-jane-yang?variant=42182206455842Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lotus-Shoes-Novel-Jane-Yang/dp/0778310671
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lotus-shoes-jane-yang/1145107408?ean=9780778310679
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-lotus-shoes-original-jane-yang/21335528?ean=9780778310679
Social Links
Author Linktree: https://linktr.ee/janeyangauthorTwitter (X): https://x.com/JaneYangWriting
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janeyangwriting/
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