Book of the Week: Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls and its sequel Dreams of Joy by Lisa See offer just what I am looking for in a good book.

The characters are ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges against a culturally and historically fascinating backdrop. Sisters May and Pearl come of age in Shanghai at a time when it is the “Paris of the East,” living a privileged life that abruptly ends when the Japanese invade China on the cusp of World War II. 

The sisters’ journey to America, life in L.A.’s Chinatown, and an eventual return to China during Mao’s Great Leap Forward, offer insightful observations of family love, perseverance, truth and forgiveness.

These books are available at the on Trolley Road.