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All the Flowers in Shanghai

All the Flowers in Shanghai
A Novel
by Duncan Jepson
Published in USA Dec 2011,
320 pages.

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Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Louise J
All the Flowers in Shanghai
This was a great novel which I read in one sitting and would highly recommend it to anyone. For a debut novel it was well written.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Barbara P. (Worcester, MA)
All the Flowers of Shanghai
Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston's ghosts speak and guide us in their familiar histories.
"Flowers in Shanghai" does not strive or accomplish any social mores of the Chinese tradition. The main character, Feng, didn't act out, is unemotional, and just hides in her room like a dormant flower.
Feng comes to the wealthy Sang family with no experience or with any practical advice. The only beauty in the story is the garden and her grandpa. Feng is the wounded, wilting, and uncaring mother instead of the customary heroine. She needs to plot action to grow. Or does Jepson want her to appear as a non-person showing the readers the prevailing attitude toward daughters in the East? He certainly accomplished this.
The historical fiction of the new modern era verses the old China seems to come too late into the story.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Elinor S. (Loudonville, NY)
All the Flowers in Shanghai
After recently reading Lisa Sea's two books about Flowers-"All the Flowers in Shanghai" was lacking depth. I never felt that the main characters actions were justified and never sympathized with her self pity. However, the book moved quickly and seemed historically correct. I must admit that I may have read too many "Shanghai stories" in too little time.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Martha D. (Poway, CA)
An interesting veiw into the past.
I have been interested in historical fiction for some time now and this was a interesting look into a period China I found fascinating. I found myself staying awake to find out what would happen. If you're looking for a look into another time and another place this book will take you there. A completely enjoyable read.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Hydee F. (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Slow going- ultimately an enjoyable read
I picked this book up and immediately put it down feeling uninspired to continue by the drab beginning. When I did finally pick it up, weeks later, it took on a better momentum and I found myself wanting to see what would happen next... While much of the book is predictable, and the characters seemed undeveloped I found it to be a compelling read once it got going. The story is remarkably sad, if not unfortunately, a realistic depiction of heartbreak in China during those years.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Terri M. (Jacksonville, FL)
Fascinating!
I love stories from other cultures, especially ones that follow the life of a central character and are historical in nature. All the Flowers in Shanghai was all of that and more. The book follows the life of Feng "the second daughter". From the minute I picked it up, I couldn't put it down, I had to find out what was happening to Feng and how she would handle it. So well written, I was sorry to see it end.
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