Book Recommendation: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

Hi Readers! After reading a lot of books last month, I finally decided to pick a historical fiction novel, my favorite genre. Even in reading, my favorite is something that requires a lot of focus and can be stressful to read. This one was not set during any war periods, but it was 15^th century which had its own kind of stress and rage-causing. As usual, I picked this on a random whim. It’s my first Lisa See novel, and I definitely plan on reading more of her books soon. Check out my thoughts on Lady Tan’s Circle of Women.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

An immersive historical novel inspired by the true story of a woman physician in 15th-century China.

According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus , they tell from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.

~~THOUGHTS~~

Living in a world where you must bind your feet to make them small so that your husband will like them. A world where marriage prospects come in at age 8 and you’re married off by age 15. A world where your sole purpose is to give your husband a son. A world where if the wife doesn’t give the husband a son, it’s perfectly normal for him to get a concubine for this sole purpose. A world where women in rich households are not allowed to go outside their huge mansion homes. A world with no woman doctors, so a man doctor needs to have a go-between for Q&A to diagnose women patients. What is unthinkable in the world we live in today was endured since centuries by many women, one of whom was Lady Tan.

This is the real life story of woman doctor Yunxian Tan from 15th century China. We are introduced to her when she has just lost her mother at the age of 8 and we see how beautifully she grows up to become a dutiful wife, mother and a doctor! We see her become forever friends with Meiling, who’s a midwife herself. We see her become more accepting and appreciating of her dad’s concubine; Miss Zhao. We, of course, see her learn everything from her Grandmother Ru. We have see her mother in law challenging and testing her. These and so many more women became a part of Lady Tan’s beautiful, worthy and admirable life.

What I loved the most about the book was how easy it was to read and immerse myself in it. Given that it’s from an era where women were seen as objects, it was extremely difficult to read at first. But that’s the beauty of reading, isn’t it? You get to understand the lives with all their suffering and pain, but also their audacity and hope. And, this book had a good balance of both. Spanning across 40+ years, it gave a lot of depth to the character of Yunxian. But at the end of it, I didn’t feel entirely amazed. With historical fiction, sometimes, authors try to get all the facts correct, or pick one theme and do best to stick to it. In this book, both was done, which made the story telling quite technical. The chronology along with all the traditional Chinese medicine aspects felt too structured. I guess because of this, the book didn’t enthral me, but I still liked it very much. I have rated Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See at 4/5 stars!

Until next time,