Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

 

Our first bookclub of 2024 was Liz's pick, Lady Tan's Circle of Women a historical novel by Lisa See. In the book, we follow the life of Tan Yunxian, a girl born into an elite family living in 15th-century China. After her mother's tragic death, Yunxian goes to live with her grandparents who prepare her to be a physician. She befriends a mid-wife in training and the two share an intimate friendship as they move through different phases of life together.

The book was generally well received with the usual mix of some reading and some listening to the audio book. We discussed historical accuracy including what happened to the medical book that Lady Tan wrote. We explored the tension between the author writing as a modern woman about a woman living in a traditional setting but wanting to move toward a more modern and independent life. It was interesting because some thought the character was too modern in her views to be believable while others thought the opposite. We talked about some of the ancient perspectives on medicine and how eastern views influence today's medical field including acupuncture, wholistic doctors, doctors of osteopathy, and Ayurveda. Related to this, we discussed how the topic of vaccinations were addressed by different characters in the book.

We also delved into the different relationships of the characters. We talked about the respect and intimacy between the women and how their lives complemented each other given their different classes and roles. The relationship between the main character and her mother-in-law was also a topic of conversation leading us to share our own stories of mother-in-laws in our lives.

The twist in the book was also of interest as well as the way the author used flowery language to discuss gore of everyday life such as menstruation  (moon water), birth, and parasites.

All in all, we had some engaging conversation about the book inspiring some to binge read other books by the same author. 

We were so happy everyone could join! After our discussion, local folks had lunch in the park with cowboy hats (?) Given the new release of Beyoncé's country single, "Texas Hold 'Em," we made up a line dance and had a "real life hoedown." What happens in bookclub, stays in bookclub, y'all.