New Releases by Lisa See

This new deluxe eBook edition of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan features more than fifty additional pages of exclusive, author-approved annotations throughout the text to enrich your reading experience. You can access the eBook annotations with a simple click or tap on your eReader via the convenient links. Access them as you read the novel or as supplemental material after finishing the entire story. There is also Random House Reader’s Circle bonus content, sure to inspire discussion at book clubs everywhere. In Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa See takes us on a journey back to a captivating era of Chinese history and delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship. In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, an “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she has written a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on the fan and compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together they endure the agony of footbinding and reflect upon their arranged marriages, their loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace in their friendship, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their relationship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

«Un ritratto avvincente e realistico di una donna forgiata dalla sofferenza, e dell''amicizia che le permette di sopravvivere. » Arthur Golden Ottuagenaria e tormentata dai rimorsi, Giglio Bianco ripensa al proprio passato e a Fiore di Neve, l''amica scomparsa da molti anni che ha avuto un ruolo cruciale nella sua esistenza. Poiché le rimane solo il dono del tempo, vuole onorarlo raccontando la storia della sua laotong - la compagna di parole segrete - e del tragico equivoco che ha amaramente segnato un legame lungo una vita. Ha inizio così una vicenda di intensa drammaticità ambientata nella Cina del XIX secolo, quando mogli e figlie ancora avevano i piedi bendati e vivevano in uno stato di isolamento pressoché totale. Allora le donne di una remota contea dello Hunan ricorrevano a un codice segreto per comunicare tra loro. Si scambiavano lettere tracciate a pennello sui ventagli o messaggi ricamati sui fazzoletti, e inventavano racconti, sfuggendo così alla propria reclusione per condividere speranze, sogni e conquiste. Un viaggio a ritroso orchestrato con magistrale realismo verso un periodo della storia cinese commovente e doloroso insieme, che all''attenzione ai particolari storici e di costume fonde una capacità evocativa straordinaria. Un romanzo lirico e carico di emozioni che analizza una delle relazioni umane più forti e misteriose: l''amicizia femminile.

In her beloved New York Times bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls, Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy. Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime. Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives. Acclaimed for her richly drawn characters and vivid storytelling, Lisa See once again renders a family challenged by tragedy and time, yet ultimately united by the resilience of love.

In nineteenth century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, or "old same," in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The two women exchange messages written on silk fans and handkerchieves using nu shu, a unique language that women created in order to communicate in secret, sharing their experiences, but when a misunderstanding arises, their friendship threatens to tear apart.

Two sisters leave Shanghai to find new lives in 1930s Los Angeles in this fresh, fascinating adventure.

Chine, 1937. Shanghai est le joyau de l''Asie, ville lumière, colorée et tumultueuse, abritant millionnaires et mendiants, patriotes et révolutionnaires, artistes et seigneurs de guerre. C''est aussi là que vivent les soeurs Chin, Pearl et May, magnifiques jeunes femmes, aisées et rebelles, aux tempéraments pourtant opposés. Mais l''insouciance s''arrête brutalement pour les deux soeurs le jour où leur père, ruiné, décide de les vendre à des Chinois de Californie, venus chercher des épouses en Chine. Alors que les bombes japonaises s''abattent sur leur ville natale, une nouvelle vie commence à Los Angeles pour les jeunes femmes. Pearl et May tentent de s''adapter au rêve américain, elles cherchent l''amour et la célébrité tout en bravant le racisme qui sévit aux Etats-Unis à cette époque. Best-seller en cours de traduction dans 40 pays, Filles de Shanghai est une histoire de soeurs, complices et amies inséparables, partageant les mêmes rêves et espoirs, mais aussi rongées par la jalousie et la rivalité. Lisa See est passée maître dans l''art de raconter les vies de femmes hors du commun.

When the body of an American archaeologist is found floating in the Yangzi River, Ministry of Public Security agent Liu Hulan and her husband, American attorney David Stark, are dispatched to Site 518 to investigate. As Hulan scrutinizes this death—or is it a murder?—David, on behalf of the National Relics Bureau, tries to discover who has stolen from the site an artifact that may prove to the world China’s claim that it is the oldest uninterrupted civilization on earth. This artifact is not only an object of great monetary value but one that is emblematic of the very soul of China. Everyone—from the Chinese government, to a religious cult, to an unscrupulous American art collector—wants this relic, and some, it seems, may be willing to kill to get it. At stake in this investigation is control of China’s history and national pride, and even stability between China and the United States. The troubled Hulan must overcome her own fears of failure, while David tries desperately to break through the shell that has built up around his wife. As Hulan and David are enmeshed in international schemes for power and the turbulence of their own relationship, these hunters after the truth become the hunted—in a fast-driving narrative set against the backdrop of the building of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest and most expensive project China has undertaken since the Great Wall and the subject of great international debate. It is here, in the heart of the Three Gorges, that David and Hulan will battle their enemies and their own natures to see who will win China’s dragon bones. Dragon Bones combines ancient myth with contemporary anxieties concerning religious fanaticism and terrorism to tell a story of love, betrayal, history, ecology, greed—and gory murder.

Chine, XVIIe siècle. Recluse dans les luxueux appartements des femmes, Pivoine tue le temps avant son mariage. Mais plutôt que de se livrer aux exercices convenables - broderie ou chant -, elle préfère se plonger dans de dangereuses lectures qui exaltent l''amour fou. Lorsque, à l''occasion de son anniversaire, son père lui permet d''assister, cachée derrière un paravent, à la représentation de son opéra favori, Pivoine s''éprend d''un élégant poète. La passion brûlera la jeune fille et l''emmènera dans un voyage qui durera bien au-delà de sa propre mort..

“Lisa See begins to do for Beijing what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did for turn-of-the-century London or Dashiell Hammett did for 1920s San Francisco: She discerns the hidden city lurking beneath the public facade.” –The Washington Post Book World In the depths of a Beijing winter, during the waning days of Deng Xiaoping’s reign, the U.S. ambassador’s son is found dead–his body entombed in a frozen lake. Around the same time, aboard a ship adrift off the coast of Southern California, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Stark makes a startling discovery: the corpse of a Red Prince, a scion of China’s political elite. The Chinese and American governments suspect that the deaths are connected and, in an unprecedented move, they join forces to see justice done. In Beijing, David teams up with the unorthodox police detective Liu Hulan. In an investigation that brings them to every corner of China and sparks an intense attraction between the two, David and Hulan discover a web linking human trafficking to the drug trade to governmental treachery–a web reaching from the Forbidden City to the heart of Los Angeles and, like the wide flower net used by Chinese fishermen, threatening to ensnare all within its reach. “A graceful rendering of two different and complex cultures, within a highly intricate plot . . . The starkly beautiful landscapes of Beijing and its surrounding countryside are depicted with a lyrical precision.” –Los Angeles Times Book Review “Murder and intrigue splash across the canvas of modern Chinese life. . . . A vivid portrait of a vast Communist nation in the painful throes of a sea change.” –People “Fascinating . . . that rare thriller that enlightens as well as it entertains.” –San Diego Union-Tribune A Finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

“See paints a fascinating portrait of a complex and enigmatic society, in which nothing is ever quite as it appears, and of the people, peasant and aristocrat alike, who are bound by its subtle strictures.”—San Diego Union-Tribune While David Stark is asked to open a law office in Beijing, his lover, detective Liu Hulan, receives an urgent message from an old friend imploring her to investigate the suspicious death of her daughter, who worked for a toy company about to be sold to David’s new client, Tartan Enterprises. Despite David’s protests, Hulan goes undercover at the toy factory in the rural village of Da Shui, deep in the heart of China. It is a place that forces Hulan to face a past she has long been running from. Once there, rather than finding answers to the girl’s death, Hulan unearths more questions, all of which point to possible crimes committed by David’s client. Suddenly Hulan and David find themselves on opposing sides: One of them is trying to expose a company and unearth a killer, while the other is ethically bound to protect his client. As pressures mount and danger increases, Hulan and David uncover universal truths about good and evil, right and wrong–and the sometimes subtle lines that distinguish them. Praise for The Interior “[See] illuminates tradition and change, Western and Eastern cultural differences. . . . All this in the middle of her thriller which is also about greed, corruption, abuse of the disadvantaged, the desperation of those on the bottom of the food chain, and love.”—The Tennessean “Sophisticated . . . graceful . . . See’s picture of contemporary China’s relationship with the United States is aptly played out through her characters.”—Los Angeles Times “Immediate, haunting and exquisitely rendered.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Een jong meisje uit het China van de 17e eeuw beleeft de (on)mogelijkheden van haar cultuur heftig, waarbij haar leven tragische ontwikkelingen kent.

“Només els bons novel·listes són capaços d’aconseguir el que ha aconseguit Lisa See: donar vida no només a uns personatges sinó a tota una cultura amb una sensibilitat colpidorament diferent a la nostra. Un retrat absorbent i totalment convincent d’unes dones destinades a patir des de la infància, i de l’amistat que les ajuda a sobreviure. ” Arthur Golden, autor de Memòries d’una geisha A la Xina del segle XIX les noies eren tancades i sotmeses a l’embenament dels peus per garantir-ne un matrimoni profitós. Recloses i totalment aïllades, ningú esperava d’elles que pensessin o tinguessin emocions. Però en un districte de la remota província de Hunan les dones van desenvolupar el seu propi codi secret per comunicar-se entre elles. El nushu o «escriptura de les dones» els permetia traçar missives als ventalls, brodar missatges als mocadors i escriure relats mitjançant els quals aconseguien compartir esperances, somnis i fites amb les seves laotongs, “ànimes bessones”, amb les quals mantenien un vincle emocional que durava tota la vida. Flor de Neu i el ventall secret recrea la història de l’Assutzena i Flor de Neu, dues dones que gràcies a aquest llenguatge mantingut en secret durant milers d’anys són capaces de trobar en l’amor i l’amistat el sentit de les seves vides. Amb precisió històrica i una gran càrrega lírica i emocional, aquesta novel•la aprofundeix en una de les relacions humanes més misterioses: l’amistat entre dones.«És un retrat fascinant d’un temps i un lloc vius de bellesa i brutalitat».» USA Today«Flor de Neu i el ventall secret és un triomf de totes totes, una bellíssima història que trenca el cor.» Washington PostLisa See és autora de Flower Net (1997), The Interior (2000) i Dragon Bones (2003), així com de l’aclamada On Gold Mountain (1995), el relat de la història de la seva pròpia família, d’arrels xineses i americanes. Actualment viu a Los Angeles. Flor de Neu i el ventall secret ha estat un èxit de públic i crítica als Estats Units, i està en vies de publicació en més de vint països.

In nineteenth century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, or "old same," in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The two women exchange messages written on silk fans and handkerchieves using nu shu, a unique language that women created in order to communicate in secret, sharing their experiences, but when a misunderstanding arises, their friendship threatens to tear apart.

In 1867, Lisa See's great-great-grandfather arrived in America, where he prescribed herbal remedies to immigrant laborers who were treated little better than slaves. His son Fong See later built a mercantile empire and married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Lisa herself grew up playing in her family's antiques store in Los Angeles's Chinatown, listening to stories of missionaries and prostitutes, movie stars and Chinese baseball teams. With these stories and her own years of research, Lisa See chronicles the one-hundred-year-odyssey of her Chinese-American family, a history that encompasses racism, romance, secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius, and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.