Super Short Summary

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See fictionalizes the life of Tan Yunxian, a female physician in Ming dynasty China, shaped by her mother’s early death and education by her medical practitioner grandparents. Despite societal constraints, Yunxian marries into a wealthy family and navigates her roles as wife and mother while secretly treating women medically, inspired by her friendship with midwife Meiling to defy tradition and support women's health care across social classes. The novel contains instances of violence, medical trauma, and gender-based discrimination.