--- product_id: 3609038 title: "Shanghai Girls: A Novel" price: "€ 32.25" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/3609038-shanghai-girls-a-novel store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # Rich cultural & historical immersion Paperback edition, easy to carry NYT Bestseller, top-tier acclaim Shanghai Girls: A Novel **Price:** € 32.25 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 📖 Unlock the past, live the drama — Shanghai Girls is your next literary obsession! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Shanghai Girls: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** € 32.25 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/3609038-shanghai-girls-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Cultural Crossroads Explored:** Navigate the complex clash of tradition and modernity through the eyes of two unforgettable heroines. - • **Authentic Historical Backdrop:** Experience 1937 Shanghai and wartime America with vivid, immersive storytelling that transports you in time. - • **Unforgettable Sisterhood Saga:** Dive into a gripping tale of family, rivalry, and resilience that resonates across generations. - • **Critically Acclaimed Bestseller:** Join thousands of readers captivated by Lisa See’s masterful narrative and rich character depth. - • **Cliffhanger Ending Demands Sequel:** Get hooked on a story that leaves you craving more — don’t miss out on the next chapter. ## Overview Shanghai Girls is a New York Times bestselling novel by Lisa See that chronicles the intertwined lives of two sisters from wealthy 1937 Shanghai as they navigate war, immigration, and cultural upheaval in America. This paperback edition offers a compelling blend of historical fiction and emotional depth, exploring themes of sisterhood, identity, and survival against a richly detailed backdrop of Chinese and American history. ## Description NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A gifted writer . . . explores the bonds of sisterhood while powerfully evoking the often nightmarish American immigrant experience.”— USA Today In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides. As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules. At its heart, Shanghai Girls is a story of sisters: Pearl and May are inseparable best friends who share hopes, dreams, and a deep connection, but like sisters everywhere they also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. They love each other, but each knows exactly where to drive the knife to hurt the other the most. Along the way they face terrible sacrifices, make impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel hold fast to who they are: Shanghai girls. Praise for Shanghai Girls “A buoyant and lustrous paean to the bonds of sisterhood.” — Booklist “A rich work . . . as compulsively readable as it is an enlightening journey.” — Denver Post Review: A fascinating look at Chinese culure past and present! - Shanghai,1937. Another world, almost another century. The sights, the smells, the incredibly varied and intriguing cuisines and the lives of two beautiful Chinese girls intertwine and flow along in this beautifully written novel like an inexorable river. Lisa See can write and you're there in a Shanghai which will never come again, when women still tottered about on bound feet, when the wealthy had many servants and the poor had nothing. Shanghai was a little country unto itself, self-sufficient, snobby towards the rest of China which was considered backwards and primitive. The Shanghai girls are two beautiful sisters who lived remarkably uninhibited and un-chaperoned lives, posing for advertising posters, staying out most of the night with their friends. May is the younger sister, eighteen and the favorite of the girls' father. Shewas born under the sign of the Sheep. Pearl, the narrator of the novel, at twenty-one is also lovely but tall with cheekbones, born a Dragon, and not quite as much loved by her parents as her sister, because she is not quite as beautiful. The sign one is born under is very important to the Chinese, and indeed, May is as comfortable and obliging as a sheep and Pearl is a scrapper, brave and feisty, like a dragon. In 1937 the girls are carefree, cosmopolitan, secure in their father's wealth, and they are rather heedless like the American flappers of the twenties. Although the sisters seem yin and yang, their love for each other is forged in steel and this bond is very important although at times their opposite natures clash. The Sheep versus the Dragon. Waiving off tradition, the two girls revel in their youth and beauty until their father tells them he has lost their inheritance gambling and in order to pay his debts he must farm the girls out as husbands to two brothers who have traveled from Los Angeles in search of suitable Chinese brides. The girls meet their husbands briefly, Pearl's husband is Sam and he is her age, but May's husband, Vernon, is only fourteen years old and cannot consummate the marriage. Pearl sleeps with a total stranger, her husband, but hates the experience and incredibly the sheets of her marriage bed are examined by the man who arranged the marriages, as proof of the consummation and Pearl's virginity. In the meantime Japan attacks China and Pearl and May and their mother, (their father has disappeared) try to escape the bombs by sneaking into the country, sleeping in huts or on the ground, scrounging for food. They are brutalized by Japanese soldiers and Mama dies after the soldiers strip off the coverings of her bound feet and stamp on the tortured toes. The girls manage to across the Pacific in a decrepit ship and are held at the immigration office in San Francisco for weeks, where they suffer one indignity after another in this virtual prison. May secretly gives birth to a baby girl in the shower room. Since Vernon is too young to be the father, May and Pearl change places, Pearl stuffs her clothing with pillows and May hides her growing belly behind loose clothing. Pearl acts as midwife in the shower room, and the authorities are none the wiser. But from that day on baby Joy is the daughter of Pearl and her husband, Sam, will fully accept her as his child. May keeps the paternity of the real father hidden even from Pearl, but the identity of the father will be revealed at the end of the book and his identity will have a profound effect twenty years later when Pearl discovers who actually sired the beautiful girl who has always been accepted as her daughter. When the sisters are finally freed from the immigration bureau at Angel Island and travel south to meet their husbands, they become part of a cultural roller coaster ride. In China Town, LA, they are obliged to be crammed into a small flat where the two husbands and their tyrannical parents all live together. They are also trapped in another prison of sorts, a Chinese ghetto, living with husbands they hardly know, buffeted between American culture and traditional Chinese values. They try to balance the China of memories with the present, the now reality with golden memories of the past. Can one be an American but still be Chinese? "We raised our children to be Americans but what we wanted were proper Chinese sons and daughters." But in China the respect of parents and of ancestors has been replaced by worship of Chairman Mao. An FBI witch hunt for communist sympathizers infiltrates the Chinese community, and Chinese who simply want to send money to their families are branded with the mark of Cain: communists. Author See very deftly paints a vivid picture of the Chinese experience in America, her brush is filled with background color and the strokes of that brush are expertly applied. But the ending of the novel is rather a shocker and it absolutely guarantees a sequel. I am not sure the ending works, but her sensitive approach and beautiful writing style earn her five stars for this novel. Lisa See is a highly perspective writer and she will help you see inside the Chinese psyche and catch a glimpse of the Chinese heart. Review: Diverting Fiction - I was engaged with the story and characters almost from the very first paragraph. The writing style is simple and easy to follow. The personalities of the two girls -- so similar in looks, but so different in their approaches -- create interest. Their position in life as upper middle class members of Shanghai society and as "beautiful girls" with active social lives and classy wardrobes keep the reader hooked. As the story develops and they enter into multiple troubles and tragedies, it's nearly impossible to stop turning pages to find out what happens next. The writer frequently does not give you what you expect, so there are twists that are difficult to predict. Kudos to her for that: I've read too many novels lately where I know exactly what's going to happen next. I appreciate the elements of history in this novel that had me checking the internet for facts and details: What did Angel Island look like? Who was Christine Sterling? I know there's a Chinatown in LA, but never heard of China City. What was a "beautiful girl?" I was chuckling at the descriptions of the 1940s movies depicting Chinese by taping up the eyelids of Caucasian actors and actresses. Many of the places and events described in the book are captivating, especially if you are familiar with the locations or have a general interest in this history before you read. Spoiler warning: the book ends on a cliff-hanger and you will have to get the sequel ASAP. I'm about to do that. I'm cutting it by one star because at times it can be a bit soap-opera like and "telling" -- telling one event after another. This just crops up in sections of the book, towards the end, however. ## Features - paperback ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #51,266 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #346 in Multigenerational Fiction (Books) #532 in Sisters Fiction #536 in Family Saga Fiction | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 5,903 Reviews | ## Images ![Shanghai Girls: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71jHCGb8UgL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A fascinating look at Chinese culure past and present! *by P***P on September 29, 2010* Shanghai,1937. Another world, almost another century. The sights, the smells, the incredibly varied and intriguing cuisines and the lives of two beautiful Chinese girls intertwine and flow along in this beautifully written novel like an inexorable river. Lisa See can write and you're there in a Shanghai which will never come again, when women still tottered about on bound feet, when the wealthy had many servants and the poor had nothing. Shanghai was a little country unto itself, self-sufficient, snobby towards the rest of China which was considered backwards and primitive. The Shanghai girls are two beautiful sisters who lived remarkably uninhibited and un-chaperoned lives, posing for advertising posters, staying out most of the night with their friends. May is the younger sister, eighteen and the favorite of the girls' father. Shewas born under the sign of the Sheep. Pearl, the narrator of the novel, at twenty-one is also lovely but tall with cheekbones, born a Dragon, and not quite as much loved by her parents as her sister, because she is not quite as beautiful. The sign one is born under is very important to the Chinese, and indeed, May is as comfortable and obliging as a sheep and Pearl is a scrapper, brave and feisty, like a dragon. In 1937 the girls are carefree, cosmopolitan, secure in their father's wealth, and they are rather heedless like the American flappers of the twenties. Although the sisters seem yin and yang, their love for each other is forged in steel and this bond is very important although at times their opposite natures clash. The Sheep versus the Dragon. Waiving off tradition, the two girls revel in their youth and beauty until their father tells them he has lost their inheritance gambling and in order to pay his debts he must farm the girls out as husbands to two brothers who have traveled from Los Angeles in search of suitable Chinese brides. The girls meet their husbands briefly, Pearl's husband is Sam and he is her age, but May's husband, Vernon, is only fourteen years old and cannot consummate the marriage. Pearl sleeps with a total stranger, her husband, but hates the experience and incredibly the sheets of her marriage bed are examined by the man who arranged the marriages, as proof of the consummation and Pearl's virginity. In the meantime Japan attacks China and Pearl and May and their mother, (their father has disappeared) try to escape the bombs by sneaking into the country, sleeping in huts or on the ground, scrounging for food. They are brutalized by Japanese soldiers and Mama dies after the soldiers strip off the coverings of her bound feet and stamp on the tortured toes. The girls manage to across the Pacific in a decrepit ship and are held at the immigration office in San Francisco for weeks, where they suffer one indignity after another in this virtual prison. May secretly gives birth to a baby girl in the shower room. Since Vernon is too young to be the father, May and Pearl change places, Pearl stuffs her clothing with pillows and May hides her growing belly behind loose clothing. Pearl acts as midwife in the shower room, and the authorities are none the wiser. But from that day on baby Joy is the daughter of Pearl and her husband, Sam, will fully accept her as his child. May keeps the paternity of the real father hidden even from Pearl, but the identity of the father will be revealed at the end of the book and his identity will have a profound effect twenty years later when Pearl discovers who actually sired the beautiful girl who has always been accepted as her daughter. When the sisters are finally freed from the immigration bureau at Angel Island and travel south to meet their husbands, they become part of a cultural roller coaster ride. In China Town, LA, they are obliged to be crammed into a small flat where the two husbands and their tyrannical parents all live together. They are also trapped in another prison of sorts, a Chinese ghetto, living with husbands they hardly know, buffeted between American culture and traditional Chinese values. They try to balance the China of memories with the present, the now reality with golden memories of the past. Can one be an American but still be Chinese? "We raised our children to be Americans but what we wanted were proper Chinese sons and daughters." But in China the respect of parents and of ancestors has been replaced by worship of Chairman Mao. An FBI witch hunt for communist sympathizers infiltrates the Chinese community, and Chinese who simply want to send money to their families are branded with the mark of Cain: communists. Author See very deftly paints a vivid picture of the Chinese experience in America, her brush is filled with background color and the strokes of that brush are expertly applied. But the ending of the novel is rather a shocker and it absolutely guarantees a sequel. I am not sure the ending works, but her sensitive approach and beautiful writing style earn her five stars for this novel. Lisa See is a highly perspective writer and she will help you see inside the Chinese psyche and catch a glimpse of the Chinese heart. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Diverting Fiction *by L***E on October 22, 2016* I was engaged with the story and characters almost from the very first paragraph. The writing style is simple and easy to follow. The personalities of the two girls -- so similar in looks, but so different in their approaches -- create interest. Their position in life as upper middle class members of Shanghai society and as "beautiful girls" with active social lives and classy wardrobes keep the reader hooked. As the story develops and they enter into multiple troubles and tragedies, it's nearly impossible to stop turning pages to find out what happens next. The writer frequently does not give you what you expect, so there are twists that are difficult to predict. Kudos to her for that: I've read too many novels lately where I know exactly what's going to happen next. I appreciate the elements of history in this novel that had me checking the internet for facts and details: What did Angel Island look like? Who was Christine Sterling? I know there's a Chinatown in LA, but never heard of China City. What was a "beautiful girl?" I was chuckling at the descriptions of the 1940s movies depicting Chinese by taping up the eyelids of Caucasian actors and actresses. Many of the places and events described in the book are captivating, especially if you are familiar with the locations or have a general interest in this history before you read. Spoiler warning: the book ends on a cliff-hanger and you will have to get the sequel ASAP. I'm about to do that. I'm cutting it by one star because at times it can be a bit soap-opera like and "telling" -- telling one event after another. This just crops up in sections of the book, towards the end, however. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Totally Sucked Me In!!! *by T***W on July 17, 2013* As a historian I'm normally leery of historical fiction as the authors usually don't do their homework and get so much so wrong. That is NOT the case with Lisa See who clearly has steeped herself in the era, reading over diaries, books, memoirs, and more. For me this was the starting point for See's writing and I'm rather struck by the ire and venom directed at her by other reviewers here over "Shanghai Girls" as I found it quite well crafted and a gripping drama. It is the story of two sisters, Pearl and May, who enjoy the Belle Epoque of Shanghai before the Japanese invasion only to face a humiliating reversal of fortune by their father. Facing horrifying choices the daughters have no option but arranged marriages with Chinese-Americans, but before they can leave the Japanese invasion unfolds. There's so much here that is so intense, so detailed, and which advances the narrative that I cannot give away details or become a spoiler. What is captured is so brutally honest and so evocative of the era I can scarcely explain or elaborate on it. What means the most to me is that the book touches on issues such as cultural identity, ethnicity, place, the challenges of emigration and immigration, political orientation, assimilation, and identity. What makes someone Chinese, American, Communist? What secrets will you reveal or withhold, and at what cost? Will you sell your soul and your heritage to preserve your rights to citizenship? What does citizenship mean? Reading through this I found myself wondering the negotiations and navigations my ancestors made when they immigrated to America. How did they feel as strangers in a strange land. How do you preserve what you know and love while simultaneously embracing where you are and assimilate into that culture? The final chapters "Dominos" "The Boundless Human Ocean" and "When Our Hair is White" are jammed full with shocking plot twists and a no-holds-barred confrontation between Pearl and May that had my jaw hit the floor. Indeed the ending is unresolved but the story is picked up and resolved in the sequel Dreams of Joy: A Novel which I have not yet read, but intend to shortly. Clearly that was Ms. See's intent; to create compelling relatable characters that you'll want to follow in the sequel (and sell a few more books while you're at it!). And I have to admit that conceit played out brilliantly as I have to know what happens. That's a high risk/high reward gamble as the sequel may not unfold the way you hope it will. I can certainly think of three authors who elected not to write a sequel for varying reasons where I really wish they would (Tony Groom's incomparable Bombingham the heart-wrenching Wench: A Novel (P.S.) by Dolen Perkins-Valdez which ends just before the Civil War and Emancipation, and Margaret Walker's masterful Jubilee ). In those cases you have to create your own concept of what may have happened with characters who have touched your heart and resonate with you well after you finish reading the book. "Shanghai Girls" is in a league with those three great books and it's hard to temper my expectations for Dreams of Joy: A Novel lest I be disappointed. I was so enthralled by "Shanghai Girls" that now I want to read See's other books that other reviewers have spoken of so highly. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/3609038-shanghai-girls-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.be/products/3609038-shanghai-girls-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-09-12*