BOOK REVIEW: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

I recently read snow flower and the secret fan by Lisa see for my women's literature class. It has become one my favorite books, so I thought I would write a book review for it, since I very much recomend it. The novel is about lily and snow flower, two friends living in 18th century china. These two women becom laotong which is like a penpal sort of friendship, in order to be more eligible for a good marriage. In their society getting married was better than not getting married. Since women were seen as a burden to their families. During those times women in china were not allow to learn either to read or write, so chinese women invented a writing system called NuShu. The writing system invented allowed for these women, lily and snow flower, to communicate through writing, while being far from each other.
Writing gives both of these women a voice and they both consolidate each other over their hardships with arranged marriages. But this very writing system threatens their friendship. This book will make a great summer read, it's the kind of book that you don't want to put down. That's how good it is. Also, NuShu really did exist, that part of the book is not fiction. In china women really did invent a writing system for thselves. People didnt even know it existed until the cultural revolution. The book also includes actual NuShu writing translated into English. It's very beautiful.