El Abanico de Seda / Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

En una remota provincia de China, las mujeres crearon hace siglos un lenguaje secreto para comunicarse libremente entre s?el nu shu. Aisladas en sus casas y sometidas a la f廨rea autoridad masculina, el nu shu era su ica v燰 de escape. Mediante sus mensajes, escritos o bordados en telas, abanicos y otros objetos, daban testimonio de un mundo tan sofisticado como implacable.

El a隳 2002, la autora de esta novela viaj?a la provincia de Huan, cuna de esta milenaria escritura fon彋ica, para estudiarla en profundidad. Su prolongada estancia le permiti?recoger testimonios de mujeres que la conoc燰n, as?como de la tima hablante de nu shu, la nonagenaria Yang Huanyi. A partir de aquellas investigaciones, Lisa See concibi?esta conmovedora historia sobre la amistad entre dos mujeres, Lirio Blanco y Flor de Nieve.

Como prueba de su buena estrella, la peque鎙 Lirio Blanco, hija de una humilde familia de campesinos, ser?hermanada con Flor de Nieve, de muy diferente ascendencia social. En una ceremonia ancestral, ambas se convierten en laotong -«mi otro yo o «alma gemela -, un v璯culo que perdurar?toda la vida. As?pues, a lo largo de los a隳s, Lirio Blanco y Flor de Nieve se comunicar嫕 gracias a ese lenguaje secreto, compartiendo sus m嫳 璯timos pensamientos y emociones, y consol嫕dose de las penalidades del matrimonio y la maternidad. El nu shu las mantendr?unidas, hasta que un error de interpretaci鏮 amenazar?con truncar su profunda amistad.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Lily is haunted by memories-of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness.

In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu ("women's writing"). Some girls were paired with laotongs, "old sames," in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become "old sames" at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.