May 2024 — Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, by Lisa See

📖 Why this book? 📖

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
From "one of those special writers capable of delivering both poetry and plot" (The New York Times Book Review) an immersive historical novel inspired by the true story of a woman physician in 15th-century
China — perfect for fans of Lisa See's classics Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.

[This happens to take place in the same time period — but different part of the world — as one of our picks from last fall, The Marriage Portrait. —Rebecca]

Published June 6, 2023

Hard to find a copy? Use Zip Books at your local library

💠 What can I expect? 💠

We will meet in-person after hours in Time Tested Books. Front door willl be unlocked, and staff will point the way.

We catch up socially for the first 30 minutes and then start discussing the book promptly at 7pm.

👜 WHAT DO I BRING? 👜

◾️A snack to share (whatever you like!)
◾️$7 (cash or venmo, details below)
◾️And you could bring your book 😄

✴️ Event Details ✴️

Time Tested Books is keeping the store open after hours for our group. To cover the store's overhead, there is a $7 donation per person. You can venmo me (https://venmo.com/u/Rebecca-Bon) or bring cash.

(Heads up: Time-Tested Books can run a bit warm after hot downtown days like these. 😅)

Thanks, and see you all soon!

📚 ** BOOK SUMMARY ** 📚

According to Confucius, "an educated woman is a worthless woman," but Tan Yunxian — born into an elite family, yet 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 - looking, listening, touching, and asking - something a man can never do with a female patient.

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 fre-
quent 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, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions 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? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan's Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.