Lady Tan’s Circle of Women

We kicked off our Book Club night in style, with the author, Lisa See, joining us remotely to discuss her latest novel, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. Lisa kindly answered our questions and gave us fascinating behind-the-scenes insights into her writing process.

This wasn’t our first conversation with Lisa. Back in March 2022, we had the opportunity to talk with her about The Island of Sea Women. It was during that session that we fell even more in love with her work, especially when she revealed how she traveled to interview the haenyeo, the female divers of Jeju Island. She also gave us a sneak peek, mentioning she was working on a new book — which turned out to be Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. Naturally, I added it to my to-read list, hoping to propose it when it was my turn to pick.

During our latest discussion, Lisa shared more about her background, including her Chinese roots and family history, which have been a major source of inspiration for many of her books. She also explained how the COVID-19 pandemic affected her usual research process. With travel restrictions in place, she was unable to visit China and explore the locations firsthand, as she normally would. Instead, she relied heavily on literature research, collecting books and corresponding with experts through email.

One of the central themes in Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is the old Chinese tradition of foot binding, a practice associated with high status and even eroticism. Some of us had to skim through the more graphic descriptions of the foot-binding procedure, but we were truly shocked when Lisa showed us an actual small shoe. We knew the shoes were tiny, but seeing one made the reality of the practice even more striking!

The story was definitely inspiring, showing how the life of the main character evolves, and how the support of a friend can be so important. We found it really interesting to read how doctors back then could ‘read’ your body, understand your illness, and use natural remedies by mixing herbs and flowers. As one of the book club members said, “So sorry to say that Western medicine is not always right with its pharmaceuticals,” and I couldn’t agree more!

Not too long ago, we started rating the books we read, and Lady Tan’s Circle of Women scored 4.8 stars out of 5 — the highest we’ve given so far!

Of course, no book club meeting is complete without snacks! We enjoyed a mix of Asian-inspired treats and floral tea, which added to the atmosphere and made the evening even more special.