Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a frame tale, a story within a story, as told by an eighty-year-old Chinese woman, reflecting on her life and preparing for her death. In the first and last chapter, the narrator Lily reveals that she is dictating the story to Peony, the wife of her grandson, as a form of confession to her friend Snow Flower who is now in the afterworld.

Lily was born to a poor but respectable family in China. At the age of six, a diviner and a matchmaker evaluate her to determine whether she is ready to start preparations and training for a marriage arrangement. The central consideration for matchmaking is whether her feet are of a high quality. The custom of foot-binding requires that, at this early age, girls must have their feet tightly bound and shaped, until the bones break and their feet eventually form into the shape of a lotus flower. This procedure is painful and dangerous, but when done successfully improves girls’ prospects for marriage. The matchmaker and the diviner determine that Lily has the potential to improve her circumstances significantly, if her parents are willing to invest in her training and preparation.