Turning Pages Together Book Group - Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

Description

We will discuss the book Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See at the Cary Area Public Library. Registration is preferred, but walk-ins are welcome. Copies of the book can be checked out at the Service Center.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
According to Confucius, 'an educated woman is a worthless woman,' but Tan Yunxian--born into an elite family, haunted by death, separations, and loneliness--is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine--the Four Examinations, Six Pernicious Influences, Seven Emotions--and that the body is a reflection of the cosmos. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women's illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose--despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it--and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other's joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom. But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife--embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights. How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts?