Rated of 5
by Susan P. (Boston, MA) All the Flowers in Shanghai
A very enlightening story of an innocent young woman exposed to privilege but against her will. Can be enjoyed by anyone interested in the place of girls and women in pre-WWII and in the Cultural Revolution that follows. Enjoyable but heartbreaking as well. Oddly, though, flowers per se as a theme seems a bit inchoate but it didn't detract.
Rated of 5
by Kelly H. (Martinsville, IN) All the Flowers in Shanghai
This is an interesting book. The author gives us great detail describing courtship and arranged marriage in 1930s China, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Even more interesting were the expectations, duties, and traditions of an affluent Chinese household after the marriage.
I empathized with Feng throughout the book, even as I liked her less and less as the story progressed. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, but only to find out what happens next with Feng. I was desperately hoping she would try to make right her mistakes, and cheer up a little! But easy for me to say, I'm sure her bitterness and anger were insurmountable under such circumstances.
Rated of 5
by Jacquelyn H. (Blanco, TX) BRINGS HISTORY ALIVE
ALL THE FLOWERS IN SHANGHAI brings history alive in a spellbinding tale of Shanghai in the 30's to the time of the revolution. Feng, a sympathetic young girl, makes mistake after mistake after being caught in an unexpected arranged marriage while totally unprepared for the life she must lead. The book is a fine read that gives a solid overview of historical perspective.
Rated of 5
by Margaret M. (Chicago, IL) The flowers of shanghai
This is a fun read that keeps your interest. I became Interested in Xiao Feng and her life. I felt I knew her! This is a fun and informative story. It is a fast read. The story includes mysteries and cultural information about the Chinese family before and after the revolution and at the same time is an interesting and captivating, particularly to women.
Rated of 5
by Sylvia J. (Los Angeles, CA) It Could Have Been So Much More
I had really high expectations for this book, particularly as it indicates it is for fans of Lisa See and Memoirs of a Geisha. Those comparisons are highly off the mark so the main character Feng is never fully realized in the book as the author never gives her an opportunity to be fully dimensional in her character. It was highly unrealistic to me for her to go from a naive, positive young girl to such a bitter woman so quickly and never redeem herself. That made the book a disappointment to me along with the lack of historical details a out the Revolution itself that I and other readers would have enjoyed. With that said it was still a well written book but it lacked the sweeping story, detail and history I needed to recommend it to other readers.
Rated of 5
by Julie H. (Pine Grove, PA) All the Flowers in Shanghai
This cultural novel was a disappointment to me. The novel was extremely narrow in its focus on Feng, the narrator of the story. Although it was set in China in the thirties, there was little detail in the novel about the setting, and I felt that omission was an error on the author’s part. Feng was a passive character that was not easily likeable. She was a kind, innocent child who only seemed to have things happen ‘to’ her. As she grew into adulthood when she did take action, it was mean spirited and bitter. There were times that the language of the novel changed from beautiful to crass and I found those changes distracting and disturbing. Overall, it was a dark book that offered little hope or meaning and left me feeling that it did not live up to its potential.
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by Susan P. (Boston, MA) 
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by Kelly H. (Martinsville, IN) 
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by Julie H. (Pine Grove, PA) 
