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The Lotus Shoes
On sale
28th January 2025
Price: £24.99
THE CAPTIVATING, HEART-RENDING STORY OF TWO WOMEN IN 1800S CHINA
‘Brilliantly written, masterful storytelling, and hard to put down. This story will stay with me for a very, very long time’ HEATHER MORRIS, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Love and loss. Sisterhood and betrayal. Little Flower and Linjing’s fates are bound together.
As a child, Little Flower is sold to Linjing’s wealthy family to become a muizai. In a fit of childish jealousy over her new handmaiden’s ladylike bound feet and talent for embroidery, Linjing ensures Little Flower can never leave her to ascend in society.
Despite their starkly different places in the Fong household, over the years the two girls must work together to secure both their futures through Linjing’s marriage. As the two grow up, they are by turns bitter rivals and tentative friends.
Until scandal strikes the family, and Linjing and Little Flower’s lives are unexpectedly thrown into chaos. Linjing’s fall from grace could be an opportunity for Little Flower – but will their intertwined fates lead to triumph, or tragedy for them both?
‘Brilliantly written, masterful storytelling, and hard to put down. This story will stay with me for a very, very long time’ HEATHER MORRIS, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Love and loss. Sisterhood and betrayal. Little Flower and Linjing’s fates are bound together.
As a child, Little Flower is sold to Linjing’s wealthy family to become a muizai. In a fit of childish jealousy over her new handmaiden’s ladylike bound feet and talent for embroidery, Linjing ensures Little Flower can never leave her to ascend in society.
Despite their starkly different places in the Fong household, over the years the two girls must work together to secure both their futures through Linjing’s marriage. As the two grow up, they are by turns bitter rivals and tentative friends.
Until scandal strikes the family, and Linjing and Little Flower’s lives are unexpectedly thrown into chaos. Linjing’s fall from grace could be an opportunity for Little Flower – but will their intertwined fates lead to triumph, or tragedy for them both?
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Reviews
A captivating and exquisitely rendered novel that spans the last decades of 19th century China, as the country began its complex transition from a closed, imperial power to a modern nation, embracing Western ideas and influences. With deep research and elegant storytelling, The Lotus Shoes offers a fascinating look at the traditions of foot-binding, muizai, filial piety, and polygamy. For me, the centrepiece of the novel was the emotionally rich relationship between Linjing and Little Flower as it evolves over a lifetime and through multiple turns of fortune. I was invested in their story from the first page until the very last words. I so enjoyed this beautiful book
I very much enjoyed The Lotus Shoes, an enthralling tale of a bygone era
A fabulous read from the very first page, this is historical fiction at its absolute best. Yang's carefully crafted characters and intricately woven tale showed me a part of history I knew nothing about, and had me reading until midnight to discover the ending. This is easily one of the best books I've read in years, and the story of Linjing and Little Flower will stay with me for a long time to come. If you liked Memoirs of a Geisha, then you will love The Lotus Shoes
I devoured this stunning debut. Yang's fascinating glimpse into 1800s China, the power plays between multiple wives in a wealthy household, the fixation on prized golden lotuses, and the heroine's exquisite embroidery 'painting' held me spellbound. I can't wait to recommend this novel to everyone I know!
I love novels that take me away from my everyday life into different cultures, societies and times, and I enjoyed every single page of The Lotus Shoes. It is a wonderful novel, embroidered with colour and skill
Stunning, transporting, unforgettable. The Lotus Shoes caught me hook, line and sinker from the first pages and Little Flower is the bravest character I've ever read. Jane Yang is going to be a star
Jane Yang gives us a fascinating insight into the lives of Chinese women in the 19th century, and a sweeping story wrapped around their pain, joy and tenacity. You'll love it!
Brilliantly written, masterful storytelling, and hard to put down. This story will stay with me for a very, very long time
The Lotus Shoes is a remarkable, transportive debut novel. Jane Yang has created multi-dimensional, rich characters in Little Flower and Linjing, young women who must make morally fraught choices in a world that gives them little option. A story about the sacrifices mothers must make and the persistence of their daughters despite overwhelming odds, The Lotus Shoes will sweep you up in a tangle of emotion
In some ways this story is about the plight of women in nineteenth century China but, more importantly, it's about their spirit - their courage to stand up for themselves and for one another in a world where slavery, foot-binding and polygamy try to diminish them. Jane Yang is a hugely talented writer whose elegant prose, eye for historical detail and storytelling prowess fully immerse the reader in her exceptional novel
The Lotus Shoes is a powerful story beautifully told. Little Flower and Linjing's story is complex, brutal, tragic, heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting and satisfying. I feel I have learned a great deal about a place and period I knew very little about. Jane Yang is an exciting new talent and I can't wait to read more from her
Gripping from the very first page until the very last, The Lotus Shoes is a spellbinding, educational and heartbreaking tale of survival and courage. More than a book, this novel is an act of liberation and empowerment for women everywhere