Gosh, what a book!
A young woman (May) has her feet bound by her grandmother so she will be beautiful and catch herself a good husband. Unfortunately, the husband she catches isn't so great - she is the 4th wife and not treated awfully well. She runs away and becomes a prostitute in Shanghai where she meets her husband (a European) and this is the story of her life and the life of her niece who she (mentally) adopts, causing problems with her brother- and sister-in-law.
May's whole life is overshadowed by the shock of having those she trusts and loves hurting her so badly from the foot binding. She is a woman in the raw, doing what she has to do to survive and live a life with a little bit of self respect.
The effect of the deformity inflicted upon her has caused me to actually do a bit of research on this practice and it is shocking that this sort of thing went on in the name of beauty.
http://Quietly-Contrary
28/09/08 @ 17:26