Living in seventeenth-century China, Peony has never left her family’s home. Her mother has kept her inside to maintain her virtue and modesty as she prepares to marry out to a stranger. Peony is nearly sixteen, and on her birthday, her father has planned a performance of her favorite play, The Peony Pavilion. As the only child, Peony has been educated beyond what her mother deems appropriate, and as a result has a great appreciation for literature. On the night of the play, Peony accidentally meets a handsome young poet, immediately falling in love with him. In despair over her approaching marriage to a stranger and consumed by obsession for the play and her poet, Peony’s life spirals into a haunting struggle through the nebulous underworld and culminates with her quest to give Chinese women a voice.

I’ve been looking forward to this novel since it came out and was pleased to finally have the opportunity to read it. Lisa See didn’t let me down; while not as masterful as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I read before blogging, Peony in Love is a romantic story about the struggles of women in China with an abundance of fascinating historical detail and a healthy dose of fantasy. Peony dies in the first third of the novel (this is revealed on the back cover, so I don’t consider it a spoiler) and enters a world of Chinese mythology, where Lisa See uses her research on those beliefs to elaborate on how Peony can still communicate and influence those she loves. We know her ending cannot be totally happy, but her story is still compelling and absorbing.

My favorite aspect of the book was how it mirrored The Peony Pavilion in many ways but also reflected real historical events. I have never read the play, but enough is described in this novel to make it clear that Peony is essentially trying to become Liniang and get her Mengmei to bring her back to life. It was fascinating and maddening to realize that many young women did actually die of “lovesickness” in this way. Basically, it’s believed that they became anorexic, which is horrifying, to both gain control over their lives and because they supposedly believed that true love would save them. Even though this sounds a little far-fetched, it’s easy to relate to Peony and sympathize with her. She’s fallen in love and believes that now she is forced to marry a stranger. I loved the details of her preparations for marriage (except the repeat footbinding!) and the ceremonies enacted before and after her death. This is a part of the world and a period in history I just don’t read enough about.

Better yet, I liked how the novel emphasized the role of women in China and how it has been eroded throughout the centuries. The Three Wives’ Commentary on the play actually exists, as did the writing groups and female poets in the novel, and I’m incredibly intrigued by them and want to learn more about the movement. This is why I love historical fiction! Not only did I get a great story, but I also got a peek into unfamiliar history and a strong desire to learn what’s true and what’s fiction. Peony in Love is definitely recommended. ( )

A very good work of historical fiction, the novel is set in China. The plot reveals many of the ancient beliefs of the Chinese around birth, life, love, marriage, and above all the afterlife. Historically, the story revolves around an opera which even today is partially banned in China. The major historical issue is the emergence of a powerful contingent of women writers and the sacrifices and struggles they went through to be known beyond their homes despite the culture which encouraged bound feet and life in women's quarters. The story dragged a little in the middle, but overall was really well done. ( )

This is an imaginative and entertaining story about women living in 16th century China. One woman in particular is an avid fan of "The Peony Pavilion", an opera that remains controversial, even today. Affected by the themes and ideas of the opera, combined with the chance meeting of a man who stirs Peony's maiden feelings of love, she begins to write. Knowing that she must soon marry a man she does not love, and pining for a man she must never see again, Peony uses her writings to communicate her beliefs about life and love and death.

The story follows Peony throughout her struggle and heartbreak, through her illness and death and even into her life after death. I found this engrossing and easy to read, engaging from the very beginning. Anyone who enjoys reading about the Chinese culture and their beliefs regarding the afterlife will find this book a winner. ( )

This was weird, in a good way ultimately. I read Snow Flower and The Secret Fan and LOVED it. I also read Memoirs Of A Geisha and it's the only book I've read over and over like I have.

Peony is someone you fall in love with right away. Then, and I could call this a spoiler but think most readers should know this (look away if you can't stand spoilers) starves herself to death for the man she loves. At this point I was mad at the author, not a little mad, a lot mad. So the rest of the book is her speaking and taking certain matters into her own hands, as much as she can through death. (Think Ghost) It's creative, it's depressing as she can clearly never be with her man.

Okay, spoiler over. This is well written. It sticks with you, long after you read it. I recommend it. I also recommend reading my spoiler as it relates to pretty early in the book and if I had known about it, I would have enjoyed the book more to be honest. ( )

This book was very strange...how the young girl starves herself to death because she doesn't marry the man she loves.

Then all the strange things start to happen after death....it was bizarre how she could see people and go into their lives and make things happen.

It was too sci-fi for me...not sure it really was science fiction, but that is what it seemed to me.

I read the entire book, but not with the same "gusto" as I read Snowflower and the Secret Fan.

The ending with that tablet was strange as well. Great to learn about the culture, though, and the thoughts about what happens after death. ( )