Chosen by: Christina
Location: Christina's house in St. Paul
Tonight we ordered Chinese take out and Jamie went to pick it up! Great idea. It's our first time getting take out. Connor came with me for his second meeting. He just likes hanging with the ladies. We sat and chatted for awhile talking about our kids and funny things they say. I remember almost peeing my pants laughing so hard when Jessica told us that Cody that day had said "Aw, mom, how come you get an apple and I don't?" They were in the car, so when Jessica had a minute, she went to give him the apple and he waved his hand at her and said nonchalantly "Nah, that's ok, I had a booger." You just can't make up that stuff.
This historical fiction novel was set in 19th century rural China. It centers around two girls, Lily and Snow Flower, who are very good friends or "old sames", and their journey through the trials and rituals and rigid rules that women of their time and culture have to follow. The secret fan is a what they used to communicate with each other, kind of like mail. They used an ancient, secret code called nu shu and would write messages on the ridges of the fan and deliver this between their two houses. Her detailed descriptions of foot binding were horrific and nauseating, yet captivating. It is so hard to imagine that this was still going on in China, not too long ago. It is unfathomable to us, being 21st century American women, what pain, suffering and humiliation women of different cultures and different eras have been forced to endure. Again, we spoke about how fortunate we are to have been born at this time and in this country with all the freedom and choices we have. Being mothers ourselves now, we all tend to relate from the parents' perspective and a lot of these novels really show how little some people think of raising another human being. We are all on the same page with feeling that raising our children is the most important thing we will do in our lifetime. I know that in some of the situations we read about that it is a cultural thing, like foot binding. It is what their mothers did to them, and it's just how it is. But with others, I just wonder if they really love their children. Anyway, it was a compelling story that went through the lives of these two women and how their relationship, the good, the bad and the ugly, spans a lifetime.
We had fun discussing this book and most of us a least made it through some of the book. We talked about what all of our kids were going to be for Halloween, which is this week. It was another good night, and we all had leftovers to take home ;o) !!! Of note, I didn't finish the book until a few days later and it was while I was waiting to vote in the 2008 presidential election! Barack Obama is the new president of the United States! What an amazing time for our country, the first black president! He has his work cut out for him, but hopefully he can start to make some real changes in the next 4 years.
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