Read This!: Dreams of Joy

By Lisa See

Challenge: Book takes place in Asia

This is the sequel to Shanghai Girls.

At the end of Shanghai Girls, there are some tragic events and revelation of family secrets.  At this point, Dreams of Joy starts.  To deal with the impact of said events,  Pearl's daughter Joy flees to communist China.  It is the late 1950s and China is essentially closed to the west and under the leadership of Mao.  Joy thinks communism is the answer but Pearl knows better and goes to China after her.  Soon Joy realizes that the communism she learned about is not the perfect way of life she envisioned when she sees the devastating effects it has on the Chinese people but now is it too late for her and Pearl to escape back to America?

Throughout most of this book, I kept thinking "What are you doing Joy?  Are you insane?" Because yikes! at some of her choices.  I also kept thinking how glad I was not be living there because, again, yikes!  Lisa See doesn't sugar coat what life was like in China in the late 1950s nor what it is like during a famine (i.e., people eating their children).  I love books about China and this one reminded me of The Good Earth during the famine sections.  In Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, also by Lisa See, she details foot binding to the point where I was on the train and it so turned my stomach I had to get off or I would puke so she does not shy away from realism.  I like this reality because it paints a better picture of the time period and doesn't sugar coat the situation.