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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