A bit slow at times but provides so much information on china which I really enjoyed. Loved the characters, especially little flower. Great historical fiction book

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC!

I love historical fiction. I also love historical fiction taking place during this time period. This has been by far one of the most compelling reads I’ve had the luck to dive into this year.

4 out of 5 stars as I felt the ending was a little rushed for my liking and I wish we had gotten more moments of the characters to witness their growth instead of being told they’ve grown.

This book was definitely bittersweet but I love the message behind the story.

Little Flower is sold into slavery to Linjing after her family falls on hard times. After many years of serving Linjing, Linjing's family becomes part of a scandal, and Linjing and Little Flower are sent off to a Celibate Sisterhood convent. Now forced to do manual labor, Linjing becomes jealous of Little Flower who is now her equal, beloved for her embroidery skills, and has caught the eye of a Nobleman who Linjing has her sights set on.

This is a challenging one to write, because I have mixed feelings about this book. Right off the bat, the writing was really well done and I was immediately drawn in. The characters were so well developed that I found myself really invested in what happened to them, even some of the side characters. Through their stories, I learned a lot about life for women and girls in China during the late 19th century, which was eye-opening and educational.

The main characters, Little Flower and Linjing, have a relationship that reminded me of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels. It felt less like friendship and more like a codependent enmity. Their dynamic was complex, and at times, very hard to read because nothing good ever seemed to happen to them. The story was pretty depressing overall. Little Flower, sold into slavery and enduring immense hardship, and Linjing, spoiled and cruel, both face incredible trials that just keep piling up.

What really struck me was how the author used the inner thoughts of the characters to write essays and give opinions on social and cultural issues. It felt a bit out of place because, realistically, I don’t think people think in such a structured format. It made some parts feel less genuine and more like the author was trying to make a point through the characters’ monologues.

Despite the heavy and often bleak tone, the storytelling was masterful. The author did a fantastic job with character development and setting the scene. The historical context was rich and well-researched, giving a vivid picture of the time period, especially the brutal practice of foot-binding and the rigid societal expectations placed on women.

The ending, however, felt a little forced and left me somewhat unsatisfied. It seemed like the author wanted to wrap things up neatly, but it didn’t quite match the rest of the story’s tone.

Overall, I’d give this book a 4 out of 5, mainly because of the strength of the storytelling and character work. If you’re someone who enjoys historical fiction with deep character studies and doesn’t mind a bit of a heavy, somber read, then this book might be for you. Just be prepared for a lot of sadness and despair along the way. It’s a book that’s beautifully written but also deeply melancholic, and it will definitely make you think about the resilience and struggles of women in a different time and place.

An intricately woven tale of young women living in China at the end of the nineteenth century, a world where modern Western ideals are meeting with centuries of tradition. In this world where slavery still exists, we follow Little Flower, a servant girl owned by Linjing, a girl born into better fortune. “The Lotus Shoes” shows us that throughout the caste system, women are still not truly free and their value is defined by their prospects in marriage. Jane Yang brings us the themes of sisterhood, human rights, faith, loyalty and resilience through the story of these two girls as they grow into womanhood. I found this novel to be eye opening and it definitely weighed heavy on me. As a work of historical fiction, I do think there’s something to be derived in this day and age as we examine issues of gender inequality that still exist today.

After the death of Little Flower’s father, her mother sells her as a maid to the Fong family. Here she serves Linjing, a spoiled daughter. When the family decides that Linjing will not bind her feet, they force Little Flower to unbind hers. Leaving her with deformed feet Little Flower must make the best of a bad situation. Her skill at embroidery quickly shines. Jealous, Linjing does everything she can to make Little Flower’s life miserable. On the cusp of marriage, a secret comes out about Linjing’s parentage, causing her to be disowned. Linjing and Little Flower are taken to a celibate sisterhood, where they are expected to perform manual labor.

This book was just heartbreaking. Little Flower was such a well-developed character, I felt her pain and she did her best to overcome. Linjing was definitely the protagonist, and it was hard to understand the relationship between the two women. I thoroughly enjoyed the storytelling and writing skills of the author. Overall, highly recommended.

This book was just incredible. It was an an emotional rollercoaster filled with turmoil, triumph, disparity, struggle, betrayal, hard earned and tragically lost trust and friendship.This is the one book I recommend to anyone to get as soon as is published.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC. The Lotus Shoes is a compelling story about two girls in 19th century China dealing with traditions and the introduction into their culture of Western ideas, the importance of class or lack of, friendship, and betrayal. Other than an intriguing story, it's been an educational read for myself, as I knew close to nothing about foot binding, lotus shoes, and the societal stigma of not having them. There is a point half-way through the story where I would have liked for the author to go in another direction just to see how Little Flower would have helped (or not) Linjing, but after reading the author's note at the end of the book about her grandmothers upbringing and their ideas, making the characters' story relatable, one can understand why the author chose the story to head in that direction. This is the one book I recommend to anyone to get as soon as is published.

THE LOTUS SHOES is an emotional rollercoaster filled with turmoil, triumph, disparity, struggle, betrayal, hard earned and tragically lost trust and friendship set in an immersive and well researched historical period that places the patriarchy upon a pedestal and set women against one another in hopes of using their sisters as stepping stones to success rather than banding together to find solace and rise as a collective. Yet, the ending offers readers bittersweet hope that no matter the harshness of the conditions of the path each women may take, there is potential for change, and there is potential to reclaim and conquer one’s fate.

This touching and transportive historical fiction, Jane Yang’s debut novel, is set in late nineteenth century China and explores the journey of two women from very different backgrounds as they come of age: Little Flower, a peasant whose father dies when she is six and her mother sells her into slavery in the Fong family, and LInjing Fong, the spoiled eldest daughter in a wealthy and powerful family, who is given Little Flower as her handmaiden, or muizai.

Little Flower comes not only with bound feet—“golden lilies”—but she is also uncommonly gifted at embroidery, both badges of highlclass ladies in China, so much so that men believe that only women with golden lilies are capable of executing exquisite embroidery like Little Flower’s. Linjing’s father, Master Fong, a progressive man who sees economic relationships with the West as the future and who is overindulgent of his eldest child, allows Linjing’s feet to remain unbound and eventually arranges marriage with a Western-oriented family who will accept her “big feet.” And while Linjing’s mother is exasperated with Linjing’s poor embroidery skills, she is impressed by Little Flower’s, so they spend many hours embroidering together and she promises Little Flower that they will try to arrange a marriage for her when Linjing is married.

In a fit of jealousy over Little Flower’s golden lilies and the attention Lady Fong pays to her, Linjing orders Little Flower’s feet to be unbound and starts treating her cruelly, forcing Little Flower to cut up the embroidered wedding quilt she has made, and eventually, through an appeal to her father, instigates the cancelation of the arranged marriage between Little Flower and the eldest son of a merchant family enamored of her embroidery skills. Little Flower’s attempted escape following this latest blow results in the maiming of her embroidery hand as punishment. When scandal befalls the Fong family, and Linjing is permitted to enter the Celibate Sisterhood rather than being sent to a nunnery, Little Flower is also forced to go with her. What ensues during their life of drudgery—silk reeling—tests both young women’s resolve and morality.

Ms. Yang’s skillful narrative, which delves into issues of class, the tortuous practice of foot-binding, and family expectations, illuminates the overall plight of women at that time and illustrates that even the most privileged of them lived in cages—gilded, perhaps, but a cage, nevertheless, that robbed them of their agency. Based on the experiences of Ms. Yang’s own ancestor, this powerful story celebrates resiliency and tenacity, and explores finding one’s identity and overcoming artificial boundaries in a strictly stratified society.

Thanks to NetGalley, Park Row, and Ms. Yang for the opportunity to read the ARC of this compelling book ahead of its intended January 7, 2025 publication.

The Lotus Shoes made me feel ALL the feels! It was amazing to watch the struggles and trials this poor girl had to endure. I definitely recommend if you enjoy historical fiction.

An amazing story of two Chinese girls caught between Western Modernity and Chinese custom. I didn’t want to put the book down once I started - and not even after I finished.

I loved this story. It’s a devastating statement to the condition of women in China and how powerless they were. Despite their position in this patriarchal society some prevailed. I thought the explanation and portrayal of footbinding was well done and then to show how the transition away from the practice began was interesting. There was strong character development as well.

The Lotus Shoes is a captivating character-driven novel about the lives of maidservant Little Flower and her mistress Linjing. Both characters and their motivations are written very well, and it's not often that I find myself enjoying a book with such a detestable main character as Linjing. She is complex, deeply flawed, but very human and served as an excellent foil for Little Flower. Little Flower reminded me of Jane Eyre, one of my favorite literary characters, and I loved witnessing her growth and how she handled every setback, either by the hands of Linjing or others, with determination and grace.

However, what broke the immersion for me was the portrayal of Little Flower and Linjing's thoughts and revelations. I found that their internal monologue a bit too straightforward and self-aware for my taste, and would have preferred more nuance and subtlety. Additionally, I felt the narrative could have relied less on exposition and time skips and shown more glimpses into Little Flower and Linjing's tenuous relationship in the middle part of the book as they grew up. I was also taken out of the story by the inconsistency in names, where there were traditional Chinese names like "Meilian" but also translated names like "Harmony," "Valiant," and "Sapphire."

All in all, this was an impressive exploration of societal pressures, freedom, and the cultural landscape surrounding 19th-century China with the introduction of Western ideals and values. This book provided a good contrast to Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, a book about 15th-century China, and I liked reading Jyutping/Cantonese instead of Pinyin/Mandarin for a change.

The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang is my first ARC that I have been selected for and it was a pleasure to read from start to finish. This historical fiction is based in the late 1800s China about the lives of two young girls, Little Flower and Linjing, from different classes and how their lives become intertwined when Little Flower is sold to the Fong family as a muizai (slave) to serve Linjing. The chapters flip between the perspectives of Little Flower and Linjing mapping how they grow up throughout the book through scandal, hardships, love, friendship, and sisterhood.

Little Flower’s character defies and challenges the assumptions of 1800s Chinese ideals of femininity, whether that’s her unparalleled skills in embroidery, which is assumed to only be a skill that gentille women possess. It’s rare that I love a book where I have absolutely disdain for one of the main characters. It reminded me of the Kite Runner, because Linjing is a selfish, wicked person, and I am sure that some might feel that she has a redemption arc, but I absolutely did not. Nonetheless, her character is instrumental to this book and made it all the more interesting since Little Flower is who you spend your time rooting for. The intentionality of the class-tension and human behaviour, and good versus evil is a page turner.

I loved that Yang was inspired by familial stories and the research that she put into writing this book– I definitely felt transported back into that time and it sparked an interest for me to invest time to read non-fiction about this era, especially regarding the history of golden lotuses (foot binding), culture around womanhood and marriage, and celibate sisterhoods during this time. I appreciated learning something new from this book.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing through NetGalley for selecting me to provide feedback on The Lotus Shoes, and I look forward to picking up a physical copy of the book when it’s published on January 21, 2025!

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