Post by Bridget in MD on Aug 30, 2023 21:35:47 GMT
5 Stars for Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. This is the story of Yunxian Tan, one of China’s first female doctors in the Ming dynasty. While this is a fictional account, she was an actual person who kept a journal of the people she treated, and you can read her case files even today.
“A woman is a woman whether born in the dirt or on silk.”
Yunxian Tan was born an aristocrat, and this story focuses on the things she was raised to focus on: how to be a "proper" wife, how to bound feet and how to care for them, expect an arranged marriage, the quest to ensure her husband's line with the birth of a son, and to live solely within the confines of her family home. Because her mother dies at a young age and her own father is studying, she is sent to live with her grandparents. There, she receives real tangible love and is taught teach her not only the traditional female subjects, but also about the world of women’s medicine. At her grandparents, she meets a lower class girl Meiling and her midwife mother (a profession that disgusts Chinese society), and the crux of the novel is the relationship between these two women, their place in life and society as friends, as women, and as medical "experts".
“Friendship is a contract between two hearts."
"It takes a lifetime to make a friend, but you can lose one in an hour,” she recites. “Life without a friend is life without sun. Life without a friend is death.”
This historical story is a fascinating - you are literally transported back to 15th century China. As a woman, I was captivated and frustrated and annoyed by the heirachy women were forced to live within, but I truly enjoyed reading about this aspect of time and culture.
5 Stars for The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer. This was a tough read, because there are many times I feel today's political climate shows warning signs of history about to repeat itself, and how astounding it is to see so many people slip into brainwashed morals "for the better of the coutnry" or forced into impossible "choices" which arent really choices at all.
The story is told through alternating points of view from the two women, Sophie and Lizzie, which alternates between 1930s Germany, the American Great Depression in Texas, and 1950s Huntsville, Alabama.
In 1930, Berlin, Germany, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes is married to Jurgen, an engineer specialising in the building of rockets. As the Nazi party came into power, they want Jurgen’s knowledge for their rocket program. Although Jurgen and Sofie are vehemently opposed everything that the Nazis stood for, they are forced to to support the Nazi party, or else risk any safety for their family.
In 1930s Texas, Lizzie and her family are suffering on their farm during the Great Depression. Eventually Lizzie and her brother are forced to abandon the family farm and search for a better life elsewhere.
Sophie and Lizzie's lives intersect in 1950s Huntsville, Alabama. German scientists had their records wiped clean, and were invited to the US to work on the US space program. Finally reunited with her husband, Sophie quickly sees not everyone in Huntsville is welcoming towards the German families, especially when Americans are suspicious of the Germans' possible involvement with the Nazi Party/SS. Things don't improve when Sophie holds a (figurative) mirror up and compares German anti-Semitic views against US (esp Alabama) sentiments about segreation.
It is really hard to say I enjoyed this book bc of the subject-matter, but the story is gripping and emotional and thought provoking.
3.5 Stars for The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry. In 1939, Hazel & Flora Linden are part of Operation Piped Piper. Evacuating London, they are placed with with Bridie Aberdeen and her son Harry in Oxford. To calm and comort her younger sister, Hazel creates magical stories in a place called Whisperwood. When Flora disappears, the police believe she drowned in the Thames River.
Twenty years later, Hazel, working at Hogan’s Rare Book Shoppe, is shocked when she receives a newly published children’s picture book, featuring Whisperwood and the River of Stars - the magical land only known to Hazel and Flora. Could Flora still be alive?
The premise of this book was promising, but when the truth comes out, honestly, it was just way too far fetched and left me with a big "HUH?" I also really was not a fan of several characters, especially Hazel's boyfriend, Barnaby. This story was also told in 2 timelines, one during WWII and one in the 1960s, but for some reason, the 1960s timeline REALLY did not work for me. I can't even explain it.
“A woman is a woman whether born in the dirt or on silk.”
Yunxian Tan was born an aristocrat, and this story focuses on the things she was raised to focus on: how to be a "proper" wife, how to bound feet and how to care for them, expect an arranged marriage, the quest to ensure her husband's line with the birth of a son, and to live solely within the confines of her family home. Because her mother dies at a young age and her own father is studying, she is sent to live with her grandparents. There, she receives real tangible love and is taught teach her not only the traditional female subjects, but also about the world of women’s medicine. At her grandparents, she meets a lower class girl Meiling and her midwife mother (a profession that disgusts Chinese society), and the crux of the novel is the relationship between these two women, their place in life and society as friends, as women, and as medical "experts".
“Friendship is a contract between two hearts."
"It takes a lifetime to make a friend, but you can lose one in an hour,” she recites. “Life without a friend is life without sun. Life without a friend is death.”
This historical story is a fascinating - you are literally transported back to 15th century China. As a woman, I was captivated and frustrated and annoyed by the heirachy women were forced to live within, but I truly enjoyed reading about this aspect of time and culture.
5 Stars for The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer. This was a tough read, because there are many times I feel today's political climate shows warning signs of history about to repeat itself, and how astounding it is to see so many people slip into brainwashed morals "for the better of the coutnry" or forced into impossible "choices" which arent really choices at all.
The story is told through alternating points of view from the two women, Sophie and Lizzie, which alternates between 1930s Germany, the American Great Depression in Texas, and 1950s Huntsville, Alabama.
In 1930, Berlin, Germany, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes is married to Jurgen, an engineer specialising in the building of rockets. As the Nazi party came into power, they want Jurgen’s knowledge for their rocket program. Although Jurgen and Sofie are vehemently opposed everything that the Nazis stood for, they are forced to to support the Nazi party, or else risk any safety for their family.
In 1930s Texas, Lizzie and her family are suffering on their farm during the Great Depression. Eventually Lizzie and her brother are forced to abandon the family farm and search for a better life elsewhere.
Sophie and Lizzie's lives intersect in 1950s Huntsville, Alabama. German scientists had their records wiped clean, and were invited to the US to work on the US space program. Finally reunited with her husband, Sophie quickly sees not everyone in Huntsville is welcoming towards the German families, especially when Americans are suspicious of the Germans' possible involvement with the Nazi Party/SS. Things don't improve when Sophie holds a (figurative) mirror up and compares German anti-Semitic views against US (esp Alabama) sentiments about segreation.
It is really hard to say I enjoyed this book bc of the subject-matter, but the story is gripping and emotional and thought provoking.
3.5 Stars for The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry. In 1939, Hazel & Flora Linden are part of Operation Piped Piper. Evacuating London, they are placed with with Bridie Aberdeen and her son Harry in Oxford. To calm and comort her younger sister, Hazel creates magical stories in a place called Whisperwood. When Flora disappears, the police believe she drowned in the Thames River.
Twenty years later, Hazel, working at Hogan’s Rare Book Shoppe, is shocked when she receives a newly published children’s picture book, featuring Whisperwood and the River of Stars - the magical land only known to Hazel and Flora. Could Flora still be alive?
The premise of this book was promising, but when the truth comes out, honestly, it was just way too far fetched and left me with a big "HUH?" I also really was not a fan of several characters, especially Hazel's boyfriend, Barnaby. This story was also told in 2 timelines, one during WWII and one in the 1960s, but for some reason, the 1960s timeline REALLY did not work for me. I can't even explain it.