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All The Flowers In Shanghai (2011)

by Duncan Jepson(Favorite Author)

3.57 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0062081608 (ISBN13: 9780062081605)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

William Morrow Paperbacks

review 1: Firstly, I was impressed by how a man, the author Duncan Jepson, could get inside the head of a Chinese woman from the 1930s so well. Especially because he did not grow up in that era of China's traditional mindset. I am encouraged to witness the bond Duncan had with his mother to draw inspiration from, and what I assume must have been good research in order to produce a rather authentic first person Chinese voice in the writing. The Chinese perspective was detailed enough that I automatically translated some of the dialogue into mandarin in my mind and that made me feel so much more for the protagonist.Secondly, I enjoyed the author's style of imagery, although far and few between. The one I liked I will share here:"The dress was the final act in the completion of Sister ... moreand Ma's relentless striving, and though Sister would never wear it, and to me it would be a prison... ... A beautiful cage in which a man, ... could keep his little bird.He could bring out the cage and force his prisoner to sing whenever he wanted to be amused, ..." It would have been interesting to see from the perspectives of some of the other characters in order to better historically contextualize the dawn of "New China". Overall, it was an engaging read. I like how it ended as a letter, chronicling her life as if to justify her actions to her daughter.
review 2: This book was hard for me to put down. At first it was because it was so captivating and interesting, but then as the story continued I grew to dislike Feng's character more and more until I finally despised her all together. As a mother myself I was shocked and disgusted by her horrible decision. I loved Yan's character though. Feng was awful to her at times but Yan still remained loyal to her for all of her life, through thick and thin. less

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