Genre: Fiction
Sent in by: Julie, Dorset
Although I thought it would be a slow read, I read it in two sittings as I was so entranced. The book is set in China, where the culture is so alien to our own and the customs and beliefs of people during the late 1800's is indisputably foreign. It's a world where footbinding is still practised and where men and women lead entirely separate lives. This made for a fascinating read as well as telling the moving story of two women's friendship and love over decades. Communicating with a secret language known only to women for a thousand years, they share hardship, marriages, childbirth and illness until a misunderstanding drives them apart. When they finally reunite, it's both moving and heart-wrenching.
