One of the things I cherish about historical novels is that they can put a human face on history. The reader can experience on a visceral level the full impact of historical events and customs. Lisa See has this done for the history of Chinese-Americans in her book “Shanghai Girls”. It is 1937, and Shanghai is being ravaged by war. Two sisters, Pearl and May Chin, work as “Beautiful Girls” in Shanghai. (Beautiful Girls were similar to fashion models. They modeled for portraits, which adorned calendars and posters.) Pearl and May are modern girls. They have little use for the old ways and superstitions of their parents. Shanghai is the most cosmopolitan city in China, and the two sisters frequently sneak out at night to go nightclubbing.
Their carefree life comes to a sudden halt when Papa Chin loses his fortune to gambling debts. He sells his daughters into marriage to the sons of Old Man Louie, a Chinese-American businessman. The weddings are hastily arranged, but only one—that of Pearl and Sam—is consummated. Pearl and May refuse to accompany their new husbands to California until the welfare of their parents is assured. At least this is what they tell Old Man Louie. Actually the girls never plan to go to America. When the Japanese invade Shanghai, Papa Chin disappears. The sisters and their mother become refugees. During their escape attempt, Pearl and her mother are brutally raped, and Mamma Chin dies.
Ms. See’s description of the prejudice and treatment of Chinese-Americans in the mid-Twentieth Century America is searing. The sisters arrive at San Francisco’s Angle Island immigrant-internment camp and remain there for months. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 forces the girls to prove their right to immigrate. They undergo hours of tortuous interrogation. May prolongs their quarantine deliberately because she is pregnant by a boyfriend. She plans to deliver the baby on the island in secrecy.
Most of the book is set in Los Angeles Chinatown. The sisters arrive at their in-laws home and claim May’s baby belongs to Pearl and Sam. “Shanghai Girls” is a book about secrets and discrimination. It is also about the sometimes-complex relationship between sisters. It climaxes with a shattering conclusion when long hidden secrets are revealed, and readers will experience the appalling impact of prejudice on the lives of the Chinese in America.
Lisa See is of Chinese-American descent. Her father is Chinese-American, and as a child she spent a lot of time in Los Angeles Chinatown with her paternal grandparents and family. She says, “Writing about the past allows me to be with the people and places I loved so much.” “Shanghai Girls” is a fine novel, and I highly recommend it.
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