Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Pearl and her younger sister, May, are the Shanghai Girls of this novel by Lisa See. When the story opens, it is 1937, and the young girls are “beautiful girls” who live a privileged life in Shanghai. As “beautiful girls” they pose for painters whose portraits of them appear on calendars. Shanghai during this time is known as the “Paris of Asia”, and the young girls are learning of life in the Western world.
While Pearl and May are living their life as spoiled young girls, their father is losing the family fortune. To pay off his gambling debts, he sells his daughters into arranged marriages. The daughters are ostensibly married to wealthy American brothers of Chinese descent. After spending one night together, the husbands return to America with orders for the wives to follow them soon. The girls, howver, have no intention of being bound to their new lives as wives of strangers. They had dreams of marrying for love.
Soon, however, Japan bombs Shanghai. Their father deserts the family leaving the sisters and their mother are left to their own devices. Mama, who was forced into an arranged marriage at age 14, was also of the generation to have had her feet bound. Mama, however, has incredible strength. The sisters and their mother leave the bombed out Shanghai and head for Hong Kong. They hire a rickshaw puller to carry their mother and a few belongings.
On their trek, they find themselves spending nights with peasants who share their meager food and bedding. Although the girls look down on their hosts, they accept what is offered. One night they find a hut deserted by the peasants, who have left just ahead of the Japanese enemy. During the night, Japanese soldiers find the hut, kill their rickshaw puller and brutally rape Mama and Pearl. Mama is killed during this act of violence and Pearl is nearly killed.
Ultimately, the sisters find their way to the United States. The author describes life for immigrants on Angel Island, just outside of San Francisco, as the sisters await for clearance to enter the United States. During this period of time, the United States had quotas on Chinese immigration. Pearl and May are essentially prisoners on Angel Island for months before being allowed to join their husbands.
Read: March 14, 2009
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