Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls (May 2009) is a New York Times bestselling historical novel by Lisa See. It is the first of a two-book series that concludes with Dreams of Joy (2011). The author’s paternal great-grandfather emigrated from China, and many of See’s books examine the Chinese immigrant experience in America. Other titles that cover similar subject matter are Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), Peony in Love (2007), China Dolls (2014), The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane (2017), and The Island of Sea Women (2019).

See’s books have been published in 39 languages, and she has received the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Association. She also received honorable mentions from the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. Aside from her novels, See wrote the libretto for On Gold Mountain (1995), an opera based on her family biography of the same name. Like her characters in Shanghai Girls, See is a resident of Los Angeles.

Shanghai Girls is classified under the categories of Historical Chinese Fiction and Mothers & Children Fiction. This study guide and all its page citations are based on the book’s Kindle edition.