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There are currently 23 member reviews
for All the Flowers in Shanghai
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Patricia S. (Chicago, IL)
All the Flowers in Shanghai
I was excited to hear about this book because Shanghai in the early 20th century was such a fascinating time--the transition between the old imperial China and the modern one. The description indicated that it spanned many years and centered on the place of the mother in the Chinese family. I hoped for exotic atmosphere, fascinating characters and a real feel for the period. Unfortunately, I got none of this. Instead the main character, Feng, was totally unlikable, very bitter and vindictive, and she hardly left her rooms in her house. The events of World War II and the Cultural Revolution mostly passed her by and she seemed to live in a total vaccuum. I found her motives impossible to understand and her determination to make everyone pay for the difficulties in her life was not attractive, nor did it allow us to see the other people in her life as fully-developed characters in their own right. While she was resentful at her forced marriage (and how was that worse than being raised solely to take care of her parents in their old age?), we never saw what her husband thought of the marriage. He didn't get the bride he expected either, and was pretty much under his parents control for many years, and all his wife did was blame him for her condition and belittle him. As far as examining the Chinese mother's place in the family, there is only one place--the dictator. Each mother lived at quite a distance from her children and seemed set-dressing for Feng's selfishness. All in all, this is one book I cannot recommend.
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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.
