If you follow me, you know I LOVE the writing of Lisa See. I’ve read all her books and Snowflower and the Secret Fan as well as Peony in Love may be two of my favorites of all time. Her writing is so beautiful and so rich in detail that reading her novels is a truly immersive experience.

So – the interminable commute has now become “the big drive”. Yay! I still commute about an hour but that feels so much quicker (um, it is) primarily because I am not stuck in traffic every day. I am driving along a 4 lane highway. Yay!! Thus, I say “bring on the audiobooks!”

This one was a lovely and interesting read and I learned a lot about women doctors and medical practices in China in the Ming dynasty. As always, Lisa See’s writing was eloquent, evocative, and beautiful. The narration was actually soothing as I was driving along and so well done.

Highly recommended! I got mine with my monthly Audible credit!

Here’s the scoop:

According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.