Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Lady Tan's Circle of Women

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

13 reviews

carminhomarrana's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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erintempleton's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad

Loveable characters? No

3.25

alexa, play 'labour (the cacophony)' by paris paloma.
this book also reminds me of Silence by Shusaku Endo (1966) and The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013). The former because of its overwhelmingly depressing narrative, and the latter for its portrayal of a strong-willed woman trampled by a male-dominated society. if your expectation is to see a group of women trash the patriarchy, this is absolutely not the book for you.

the first thing i'll say about this book is that it was pretty gross. there were several times while reading it that made me feel physically sick to my stomach for one reason or another (see: foot binding, extreme misogyny, medical content, emotional abuse, 14 year old concubines, etc.), so it was not an overall enjoyable read for me personally. the narrative just kept doubling down on the harsh realities of being a woman during this time, so much so that i found myself drowning in their collective fear and hopelessness quite a lot; the balance of light and dark was overwhelmingly dark. i can appreciate the realism and the research behind all these things, but i did not have a good time ingesting them.

the second thing i'll say is that i didn't love the delivery of the info dump sessions. it was kind of unique to couch them in lessons and oral teachings, but it felt so stiff every time someone would ask yunxian to recite Confucian ideals or medical information. like sneaking vegetables into a child's food except they're so big that you can pick them out. i learned a lot, but i didn't feel like i was reading a story at times.

i think i'm still processing what i was meant to take away from this book, especially after the post script note explaining what happens to yunxian's family later on. i get that her medical practice was her legacy, rather than her family, but that just makes all of her sacrifices for the latter feel so hollow and meaningless. she suffered for her entire life and never fought the system that made her suffer, and the system does not reward her for that suffering in the least. it feels a lot like the story of moses coming down the mountain post-exile with the ten commandments to find the israelites worshipping an idol of another god. what was it all for, then?
(also wikipedia says that tan yunxian had two sons, and they both died young, so why didn't we get THAT in this story?)

on a positive note, i was very surprised at the through-line of yunxian and meiling's relationship; that served as a balm for the rest of the novel, and i was surprised at how direct Lisa See was in comparing them to traditional spouses. they had a beautiful connection, and it rightfully took up a lot of space in the novel. added a whole star to my rating.

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nehaanna's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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ivi_reads_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.25

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See is a captivating historical novel about friendship, resilience, and the lives of women medical professionals in the 15th century.

The story also explores chronic pain through the lens of bound feet, adding depth and authenticity to the narrative. While some parts are difficult to read due to the harsh realities of the time, the bonds between the women and their dedication to healing make this a compelling and inspiring read.

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author_d_r_oestreicher's review against another edition

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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.

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jgruman's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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oproy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I truly can’t say why I didn’t like it…I just didn’t. I understand that the historical setting makes it so that certain things must be included

like the footbinding

, but it feels odd to me that the main character is rebellious in certain things and not others that seem so much more pressing. Also, the eastern medicine aspect of this was interesting but a chore to read.

Also, again this is something I can’t quite put my finger on….but it feels like the writer was just trying to write this to be inspirational rather than to be good. Would not recommend.

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