I just realized I have a slight obsession with Asian culture. This week I delved into yet another Asia centric story, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. Which is pretty modern, at least for me, as it’s based in the 20th century during mass immigration from China to the US through Angel Island. See follows two girls and their pretty tumultuous journey to America.
The story opens to the upper class Chin Family. Their two daughters Pearl and May are clearly treated unequally, with pearl being the more heavily scrutinized one. Both of them are in love with the same painter and have dreams of marriage for love. These hopes are dashed pretty quickly as their father gambles away their fortune and must sell them to American men to help pay off their debts. May ends up pregnant and to cover it up they stalled on Angel Island until the baby was born and Pearl could claim it as hers. The rest of the book is centered on their transition into American culture and the hardships that they face hiding this secret from their respective spouses.
I really liked the book from a human perspective. I loved the intricate relationships that Lee developed. They really felt like a relationship that another person and I could share. The fights with her sister, the tryst with an artist, the strained relationship with their in-laws, all of them felt so raw and so realistic. I got swept up in all of it and had to remind myself that these weren’t real situations and real people. They were all products of their time though. All of their experiences could have really been felt by a young Chinese woman who was uprooted and was placed in a foreign land. The depiction of Angel Island was probably my favorite immigration experience. Lee describes the whole immigration experience in a confused haze and a purgatory where the guards played God and decided who could go onto a better life and who had to be sent back. I couldn’t think of a better description.
I couldn’t think of a better example of immigration to America. The experiences of the Chin girls, the loneliness, the anxiety, the strength. They are the epitome of survival in a strange land. I applaud Lee in her creation of such strong feminine characters. We really need more people like Pearl and May in the world.
The Blue Room 