Dreams of Joy (Shanghai Girls #2) by Lisa See

  

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See is the sequel to Shanghai Girls, which I wrote about a while ago. It starts from where Shanghai Girls left off so those who have not and intend to read Shanghai Girls should probably not read this post for the whole thing is one big spoiler.

Goodreads Summary

Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime. 

Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives.

My Review

Unlike Shanghai Girls, which is told solely through the eyes of Pearl, Dreams of Joy alternates between the points-of-view of Joy and Pearl. This is a very good contrast as Pearl is older, structured, realistic, and has life knowledge while Joy is young, idealistic, and incredibly naive. As with her "auntie" May, Joy makes spontaneous, possibly disastrous decisions, and Pearl is left to pick up the pieces and set things right.  

In Shanghai Girls, we get a glimpse of the glamorous pre-war China, a high point in China's history. In Dreams of Joy, See shows us China during Mao's Red China and the communist regime. This is possibly the lowest era in China's history as it includes extreme poverty and famine. When Pearl enters this new China, she is shocked at how much things have changed from the Shanghai she grew up in. It isn't as colorful and lively as it once was; there aren't any parties, very few people roam the streets, and everyone lives in fear of being arrested by Mao's government. Joy, on the other-hand, goes to a countryside village with Z.G. and is inspired by the way villagers all work for the greater good of the country. She joins the village and the cause, which worries both Pearl and Z.G.  

See also brings in a bit of the sibling rivalry from Shanghai Girls as Pearl and May send letters to each other. Pearl, being a mourning widow, blames May for her husband, Sam's, suicide. Pearl is also jealous that Z.G., who she's always been in love with, chose May. Protecting May as usual, however, Pearl purposely omits details about Z.G. in her letters. May is upset that with Sam dead and both Joy and Pearl in China, she is left to care for her husband Vern, who has tuberculosis of the bones, a mental disability, and is unable to care for himself. As with most things in May's life, Pearl and Sam have always taken care of Vern while May goes to Hollywood sets or whatever else May wants. For the first time in her life, May is forced to put herself second and act responsibly. In true Pearl and May form, however, neither truly confronts the other directly about their true feelings.

There is one quote from Pearl that very much explains the mother-daughter theme throughout the book. 

...Sometimes it's just so damn hard to be a mother. We have to wait and wait and wait for our children to open their hearts to us. And if that doesn't work, we have to bide our time and look for the moment of weakness when we can sneak back into their lives and they will see us and remember us for the people who love them unconditionally.

Once Pearl finds Joy, all she is left to do is bide her time. Joy is stubborn and truly believes in what she's doing and in Mao's cause, and she has no desire to return to America with her mother. As much as Z.G. and Pearl try to make her see things for what they are, she refuses to listen. Joy is convinced that Pearl does not know her and does not know what is best for her. As a matter of fact, Joy's desire to become a village peasant is deeper than just her belief in the People's Republic of China. 

"I want to be a part of creating something bigger than my own problems. I want to make up for all I destroyed--Dad's life, our family. It's my way of atoning."

Although Pearl understands that her daughter is grieving and is blaming herself for Sam's death, she truly believes that this is not the answer. "This," she says, "is too much punishment for anyone."  She's not just talking about punishment for Joy, but punishment for herself and May for their deception throughout Joy's life. 

Time does prove Pearl's words to be true. When Mao first starts his "Great Leap Forward", it sounds great with promises that "China will be a land of abundance and wealth" with agricultural goods and steel and that it will no longer be look down on by other countries. However, when Mao's methods to increase crops prove fatal to the land, the result is the exact opposite of what he had promised. This is the portion of the book that many times is difficult to read. Food becomes increasingly scarce, people begin to starve and die, and citizens who were once out for the greater good of the country begin to only look out for themselves. It is no longer about building the country, but about survival. 

Shanghai is faring better than the countryside, however Mao tries to keeps up illusion of a prosperous village community to the cities of China (and at the same time that of a prosperous China to the rest of the world) with staged ads in order to prevent an uprising. However, Pearl knows something is wrong and knows that it is time to step in and save her daughter. The question is can she do so in time. 

This book is a great continuation to Shanghai Girls. It is a mixture of sadness, hardship, and love. It also has a lot of twists and turns and eye opening moments. I recommend this to anyone who has read Shanghai Girls and is curious to how the story of Pearl, May, and Joy continues. 

Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1) by Lisa See

I read Shanghai Girls by Lisa See months ago and I have been debating for a bit as to whether or not I should write my thoughts on it considering that it has been a while since I read it. But then the other day I read something concerning the book, which I'll divulge a the end of this post, that made me happy so I decided what the heck.

I like books on Asian culture. One of my favorite authors is Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club , The Hundred Secret Senses , and The Bonesetters Daughter . So when I went into Barnes and Nobles one day while waiting for a friend and I saw Shanghai Girls, I was instantly intrigued and I read the first chapter while I waited.

Shanghai Girls is about two sisters, Pearl and May, who live in Shanghai, China in the mid 1930s. They come from a wealthy family and are well educated. They work as models for Chinese calenders, or calendar girls as they call it, and have tons of modern Shanghai clothes. The last thing they are thinking about is getting married, let alone an arranged marriage. However, they find out that their father put the family in debt due to his gambling habit and, as a means to avoid losing everything, he sells Pearl and May to a Chinese-American man to be married to his American sons who live in California. Pearl and May refuse to go until Japanese bombs and soldiers invade their town. So they travel to California to be with their husbands. There they have to adapt to living with strangers in a strange land and keeping a secret that changes their lives forever.

The main theme of this novel is sisterhood. Pearl and May are very close but they couldn't be more different. Pearl is the oldest and is viewed as the "uglier" of the two. In fact, the first line of the book is Pearl's father criticizing Pearl's looks. What Pearl definitely is is intelligent, but in 1930s Confucius China "an intelligent woman is a worthless woman". And as the oldest, she is expected to look after and protect her sister May. May is known primarily for her beauty, charm and cleverness. She knows the right look and the right things to say to get what she wants.

As much as Pearl and May love and value each other, like all sisters, they also know how to get on each others nerves. Pearl is secretly jealous of May because she seems to get away with less responsibility and tends to have more fun than Pearl. Pearl resents the fact that she always has to be the sensible one, the one that always does the right thing, the one who is always protecting and saving May. May's impulsiveness angers Pearl; she constantly wishes that May would stop and think before she does things. May, on the other hand, is jealous of Pearl because people tend to trust Pearl more. Anything vain or shallow, they look to May, but anything of importance is put on Pearl. May feels that Pearl is valued more because of her intelligence. Pearl's sensibility and cautiousness drives May crazy and May wishes that Pearl would loosen up and enjoy life a little more. However, throughout the book, all of these feelings are harbored in secret. On the surface, Pearl and May are as close as two sisters can be, they're each others best friend and they mainly express love and respect for each other because in the end they're all they have of their home.

Another theme of this novel is culture and immigration. Pearl and May experience culture shock and prejudice when they come to America. Moving from a wealthy home in Shanghai to a poor apartment in California show Pearl and May how much they took their life in Shanghai for granted. They are forced to do housework, unable to go out alone, and any money they make goes into the household pot instead of in their pockets. With American at war, Pearl, May and their new family experience prejudice and live in constant fear that they will be deported back to China. Pearl and May also learn that not only was their view of America different than what it actually is, but America's view of life in China and Chinese culture is skewed as well. But as China turns Communist and Pearl and May learn how much Shanghai has changed in their absence, they know that they are better off where they are than back home in Shanghai.

I really liked this book, except for the ending. It ended in kind of a cliff hanger and I wasn't at all happy with it because everything had just come to a head. However, I just found out that the sequel, Dreams of Joy, is coming out in May. So I guess we'll have to wait until then to find out how everything ends.