June 24, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.

Book: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Discussion:

We had a record vote this month at Page Turners. Of the twelve group members attending, ten readers gave this month’s selection, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, a thumbs up vote. The two remaining members abstained from voting pending completion of the book.

We began the discussion by talking about the author. As her biography from Barnes and Noble stated, Lisa See does not immediately come to mind when readers think of Chinese-American authors. With her bright red hair and freckles it is easy to understand why that is. However, See is one-eighth Chinese. She grew up in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles and has even written a non-fiction book about her Chinese ancestors. One Page Turner heard See speak at the Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts and Letters Live program, and another provided us with an article on the event.

When asked what they liked best about the novel the group members responded that they enjoyed the historical fiction genre. They felt like they really learned something about China, and more specifically Shanghai, just before the Second World War. Several group members also thought the novel was easy to read. One read it in only three days, and another finished it in five days.

One thing the group members did not like about the book was the ending. The novel concluded with Joy running away to China and Pearl deciding to follow her, even though she would risk not being able to return to the United States. This seemed like a cliffhanger to some of the group members, who felt a sequel was in order. The article one member brought suggested that See’s next project is such a sequel.

We also discussed a few major events in the book and some of the characters. First, we talked about May and Pearl’s time on Angel Island, the concealing of May’s pregnancy, and the fabrication of Pearl’s pregnancy. We were a little surprised that the women managed it so well. I, personally, thought manufacturing a pregnancy for Pearl would be more difficult than hiding May’s. After Joy’s birth, and as she grew up, we wondered about May’s connection to her biological daughter. When she was little May would take her to the movie sets to make money, but otherwise seemed to have little to do with the girl and few maternal inclinations. Pearl, on the other hand, fully embraced her role as "Joy’s mother" and proved herself to be a much better parent than May probably would have been. When May revealed who really fathered Joy, we did question why Pearl had never previously considered the possibility of her being Z. G.’s child.

As the meeting concluded, we discussed a few more topics, such as many societies’ preoccupation with having sons, the death of May and Pearl’s mother, which revealed her to be more maternal than we had imagined, and Joy’s politics and Communist leanings.

A few group members also brought their suggestions for next year’s reading list. Suggestions will be collected next month as well, with ballot distribution at the August meeting. Flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, A Dilly of a Death by Susan Wittig Albert, were also provided.