“The Lotus Shoes” is a novel of old China, set there in the late 1800s. In this engrossing novel, Jane Yang recounts the sometimes-tragic lives of girls and women in a time and place where their lives have no value. Little Flower’s father died when she was six, and her mother was forced to sell her as a slave to a wealthy family in order that Little Flower’s brother not starve to death. She was to be a maidservant to Linjing, the daughter of the family, who was the same age as Little Flower.

At that time in China, upper class women had their feet bound at an early age so that their feet would be tiny. Girls with big feet, unbound feet, were considered peasants, low class, and unable to marry anyone but another peasant. Having tiny feet was considered a sign of good taste, intelligence, and a fine upbringing. So when Linjing’s father asks that her feet not be bound, it’s because he wants her to be bethrothed to a boy whose father is looking for a girl with unbound feet. The father is an important politician, and he had business dealings with Westerners who thought feet-binding was primitive. But no upper class family would agree to not bind their daughter’s feet because of the insidiousness of the tradition.

Linjing’s father convinces her mother to agree, but Linjing is devastated. As we see, she is a spoiled, indulged child. She is furious that her servant, Little Flower, has bound feet, and she insists that Little Flower’s feet be unbound.

Little Flower’s mother had drilled into her that under no circumstances should she quit binding her feet, and instilled in her the importance of having bound feet in order to make a good marriage. Even as a slave, when she turned 18, Linjing’s mother, Lady Fong, had agreed to find Little Flower a marriage.

Linjing gets her way, and Little Flower’s feet are unbound, leaving her with not only big feet, but feet which are horribly deformed from the two years of binding. Linjing is also terribly jealous of Little Flower’s incredible talent at embroidery. Linjing is color blind, and while it’s no fault of hers, she is chastised and ridiculed for her inability to create beautiful images with silk thread. Little Flower’s skills are unsurpassed, and in a culture that believes only those with “lotus” feet, tiny bound feet, have the delicate and superior capability of creating lovely embroidery, that makes her special.

The book is both touching and incredibly difficult to read as we witness, through Yang’s evocative, descriptive narrative, the deprivations and privations that Little Flower undergoes. The treatment of women as a whole is appalling, as is the complete lack of compassion and kindness we witness in the matriarch of the Fong family, as she rules with an iron fist. All live in fear of her, and her son’s first wife and his minor wives are forced to do her bidding in an effort to keep her from punishing them.

And on a grander scale, we also witness the fragility of a woman’s existence in China at that time. Women had no rights, and even those from a good family would only gain power by becoming a first wife and finally becoming the mother of a son. If a woman could not produce a son, she could be divorced and left to die in the streets.

The book focuses on the relationship between Linjing and Little Flower as their fates become entwined. Little Flower is determined to free herself from slavery, and Linjing is determined to not allow Little Flower her freedom. Both have strong personalities, but because of her status, Linjing has more power. The story is engrossing and we come to care about Little Flower as she is dealt one blow after another. Her determination and intellect serve her well, but one girl cannot stand against an intransigent culture like that of China at that time.

Is the ending a bit too pat? Perhaps. But that’s a negligible criticism when the novel as a whole is breathtakingly powerful. The images of old China and the cruel culture of abusing women are concepts that will remain on readers’ minds long after the book is back on the shelf. I’ve visited China, and there is much beauty there, but I wish I had read more books like this one before my trip there; it would have made me more aware of the horrors that women endured just one hundred years ago.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.