Dear Books ‘n’ Wine Club,
Many thanks to Karin for hosting a fantastic meeting. Karin treated us to a wonderful meal of Lo Mein, stir fry broccoli, egg rolls and pineapple complete with chop sticks and zodiac placemats. We loved the bird nest dessert and chocolate trifle…Yummy! Oh and let’s not forget the fortune cookies and mints!
On to the meeting…
We send our love to Allison who was missed…our thoughts are with her and Tom.
We raised our glasses to toast a successful first year of the Books ‘n’ Wine Club. Thanks to Ellen for getting this group off the ground…we have thoroughly enjoyed each other’s thoughts on literature along with wonderful food and wine.
It was decided that in the New Year we resolve to spend more time discussing the book!!!!!!!
Congratulations to Ellen and her family. Grandson, Ari, arrived last week and he is a cutie.
Our discussions on
Shanghai Girls were thought provoking. Karin provided us with quotes from the book inside our fortune cookies. Unfortunately, we got off topic and failed to discuss them all. Sara shared her quote…”Her funeral was small. After all she was not a person of importance, rather just a wife and mother.” Pearl stated this after Yen Yen’s passing. Early on Pearl says “I am not a person of importance.” This got us discussing Pearl’s lack of self confidence. From early on Pearl didn’t think of herself as beautiful or worthy. She felt unloved by her father. Even though she was a ‘beautiful girl’ she never felt pretty but rather left that to May. We didn’t really get to talk about Z.G. and his role, but rumblings at the table were we didn’t like the man.
A majority of our discussion centered on Pearl and May and this sister relationship. Many lacked sympathy for May as her character was self absorbed, shallow, and thoughtless. Marrie pointed out that her only redemption came when she pushed Pearl in the wheel barrow to the hospital. Even though May had given up her daughter to Pearl it was more self serving than a gift. This led our topic to Joy and the lack of bonding between mother and child. Pearl took her mother role seriously and May was the ‘fun’ aunt. Pearl and May’s relationship with Joy was not unlike the roles they had established for themselves. Pearl… caregiver, worker and provider. May…carefree, self-centered, and egocentric.
Sam’s suicide took us by surprise. Charli thought both Pearl and Sam might commit suicide, but Susan thought Pearl was stronger than Sam.
Charli eagerly waited for Vern to ‘just die already’. Like many of us we tired of Pearl being the caregiver to May’s husband the child like man along with taking care of Old Man Louie, Yen Yen, Sam, Joy, and working at the various family businesses.
Ellen brought up the contrasting positions of status the sisters held in Shanghai vs. California. How, despite the year of hell, the sister’s expectations were of a high standard when they arrived to their arranged husbands. What a shock to learn they were not the rich family they had dreamed of. Both Pearl and May had to deal with being minorities in a new country. We discussed Angle Island and the lengthy immigration process.
Overall, the group agreed we enjoyed this book especially for its culture and historical perspective. We even wondered if there might be a sequel. From an interview with Lisa See came this: “Yes, I’m writing a sequel. I don’t feel done with the characters, but more important they aren’t done with me. This one will take place almost entirely in Shanghai between 1957 and 1961. Those are kind of neglected or lost years that most writers have ignored, and I’m always interested in stories that have been lost, forgotten, or deliberately covered up. Once again I’ll be looking at art, sisters, and history.”
Our next meeting will take place at Ellen’s to discuss
The Wednesday Sisters.
Thanks for a great first year ladies and here’s to many more great book club meetings.
Best,
Jennifer
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