Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

5 reviews

kappafrog's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love the idea behind this book of fleshing out what Tan Yuxian's life might have been like. This was rich with historical details. I really appreciated how See struck a balance between making the female characters in a deeply patriarchal world sympathetic while not being afraid to show the ways they perpetuated many of their culture's harmful practices against women. While this did make the protagonist less likeable the older she got, I still found it a compelling story. We as modern readers (rightly) find footbinding disgusting, but it was reality for centuries of women in China, and See did a good job exploring the realities of how women had to cope with that system.

At the core of this book is the way communities of women in Ming China could band together to support each other, and that made for a very good read. I'd also note that the relationship between Meiling and Yanxian came across as pretty sapphic, with Yanxian frequently struck by Meiling's beauty. I thought it was realistic that they didn't pursue a relationship, but I felt like the romantic aspect between them was an important part of the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcohol, and War

author_d_r_oestreicher's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See is a historical novel. It follows Tan Yunxian, a female doctor in 15th-century China, through the four stages of her life from age 8 (milk days) to age 15 (hair pinning days-awaiting marriage) to rice-and-salt days (“the most important years in a woman’s life. They are when I will be busy with wife and mother duties”) and finally sitting quietly days. 15th century China was not a good time for women, even high-ranking women like Tan Yunxian. This was a time of foot binding for high-ranking women and domination by husbands whether she was a wife, concubine, or servant. Lady Tan’s circle of women does their best to support each other in the strange misogynistic world. 

 

For my extended notes: https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2024/09/lady-tans-circle-of-women-by-lisa-see.html 

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cats Press books and book recommendations. 

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See is a historical novel. It follows Tan Yunxian, a female doctor in 15th-century China, through the four stages of her life from age 8 (milk days) to age 15 (hair pinning days-awaiting marriage) to rice-and-salt days (“the most important years in a woman’s life. They are when I will be busy with wife and mother duties”) and finally sitting quietly days. 15th century China was not a good time for women, even high-ranking women like Tan Yunxian. This was a time of foot binding for high-ranking women and domination by husbands whether she was a wife, concubine, or servant. Lady Tan’s circle of women does their best to support each other in the strange misogynistic world. For my extended notes: https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2024/09/lady-tans-circle-of-women-by-lisa-see.html Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cats Press books and book recommendations.

jackiejae's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

Well-written but the subject matter was not for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

greymalkin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

While a lot of the actual incidents and illnesses were not easy to read in and of themselves, the book itself is a compelling read.  Dr. Tan was an amazing woman!  Incredible that she was a real person

and that many of the cases used in the book were actual cases she wrote up and published.

 

I really like how thoroughly Lisa See researches stuff and then ties it all together into a fascinating story rather than a bunch of research papers stapled together.   It was also really nice to have this deep dive into Ming Dynasty medical practices, an area that I know very little about.

Particularly I really liked how Ms. See walked that fine line of having a character who had internalized a lot of the patriarchal and elitist toxicity but didn't seem cowed by it.  The other characters, especially Miss Zhao, who taught her how to have healthy female friendships and to see beyond her tendencies to be self-centered were really well done.  The treatments are fascinating and I loved learning in the afterword that several treatments are still being used today, with success!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug abuse, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, and Sexual harassment

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Trafficking, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism