Title Tuesday: Shanghai Girls & Dreams of Joy

Welcome to  Title Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! This day is dedicated to book suggestions, news, cartoons, and reviews. I write this portion of my blog because I am a big believer in the motivational speaker Charlie Jones' quote which says, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I try to meet as many new people as possible and to read everything I can. This is my way of sharing that information with you. You can see a visual summary of the books I have reviewed for both adults and children over on my Facebook page. If you are interested in understanding my rating system for books you can read my Book Review Explanation here and What I Believe here. If you want to check out what I am currently reading or what I want to read next, friend me on Goodreads!

Good morning! 

Today I am going to  cover two books in one review. Now why would I do that? These two books are intricately interwoven and you cannot get the full story without reading both books. Both books are written by the fabulously descriptive, Lisa See. I read Shanghai Girls and I was fully ready to give it a bad review for how it ended because I was unaware there was a second book. That is how closely these two stories intertwine. You cannot fully appreciate the story arch without reading both.  

The first of the books Shanghai Girls which follows the lives of  Pearl and May two sisters from Shanghai, China. The girls are from an upper class family trying to navigate a changing culture when their father forces them into arraigned marriage to cover his gambling debts. Pearl and May flee Shanghai (without their husbands) when the Japanese invade the mainland and begin bombing the city. The girls journey through the countryside and eventually wind up immigrating to the United States. The story follows their lives and the life of their daughter (yes, one singular daughter for the both of them...) as they navigate life in a foreign country during changing times. 

The second book is titled Dreams of Joy and it follows the story of Pearl and May's daughter by the same name. Joy is an American born daughter of Chinese immigrants. She is raised in conflicting worlds torn between cultural expectations of her Chinese family and societal expectations of her American friends. When Joy goes to university she learns about Communist China and falls in love with the idea of going back to her parents homeland. When circumstances conspire, Joy runs away to China and Pearl follows her to bring her back. In China Joy and Pearl both learn a great deal about themselves, each other, and the past while trying to survive Communist China.   

Shanghai Girls
Things I Liked
Lisa See is an incredibly talented author. Her writing is detailed to the point that you can almost smell the stench of the Shanghai streets as May and Pearl begin their adventures. The strength of the girls' mother is incredible. I think Lisa See did a fabulous job writing her. 

Things I Didn't Like
There is a rape scene in the center of the book. It came out of nowhere for me and it really messed with me. I understand that rape has been used as a weapon during times of war for millennia, however I think the See should consider putting a warning at the front of the book. I had to put the book down for several days before I was able to continue the book.
Dreams of Joy
Things I Liked
The incredible love shown from Pearl is amazing. Her character can often be weaker and timid throughout the story but the decision to go to China to find Joy, knowing that she may never be allowed to return to the United States makes her one of the bravest characters I have come across in literature.

Things I Didn't Like

Joy is a spoiled rotten brat. She very gets herself and several other innocent people killed because she is too foolhardy to listen to her mother and aunt about what communist China is really like.
I really don't care for the romantic entanglement that Pearl gets herself into with a one night stand in China. I think this could have been left out of the story completely without damaging the narrative of the book.

Overall, I give both Shanghai Girls and Joy a solid B+. These books opened my eyes to what communism is like in a way that nothing else ever has. Of course, I took government and economics classes in both high school and college that discussed the concepts of both socialism and communism. However, it is completely different to understand the ridiculous lack of knowledge from the higher ups in the communist party and the impact that had on the people of China. This books inspired me to look into the real numbers. Mao's Great Leap Forward that is discussed in the book killed 45 MILLION OF ITS OWN PEOPLE in 4 just years. To put that into perspective for you, the Nazi holocaust in 1939-1945 killed 6 million Jews. I didn't realize how bad it was until I read this fictional book that contained real life facts.

Lisa See takes her main characters through such an incredible journey that your heart aches for the China that was lost while simultaneously hoping that the new China will succeed. This is a story that must be savored, and should be enjoyed several times to understand some of the more complex themes.