China Dolls

One of the areas in which China Dolls shines is in the portrayal of female friendships. For, female friendships are messy. They are highly susceptible to jealousy and rivalry and fraught with the tension that occurs from balancing the healthy versus the unhealthy. Yet, these volatile relationships often last forever. Much as one never forgets one’s first love, a woman will never forget those key female friendships which help define who she is. In Grace, Helen, and Ruby, Ms. See highlights the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in female relationships. They are as close as sisters and yet have no problems betraying each other if it means achieving their goals. There is pettiness, love, guilt, and forgiveness – sometimes all in the show more same day. Theirs is a brilliant example of unpredictability and ultimate rewards that come from forging strong bonds with other women.

Because of the instability of such friendships, the three girls will test a reader’s loyalty and sympathy. They may be each other’s closest friends, but when it comes to achieving their objectives, no friendship stands in their way. In fact, in several instances, the girls deliberately set out to hurt one another either as retribution for previous grievances or merely as a stepping stone to their own desires. All of them are guilty of such backstabbing behaviors, which makes it difficult to find one character with whom to empathize. Yet all three have their own shameful secrets that contribute to the psychology of their friendship and ease some of the disappointment readers might feel at the damage each girl causes the other.

Another area of sheer vividness within China Dolls is the historical details throughout the novel. Ms. See shows so much more than the elements of the period. There is an attitude within the novel that complements the judgment, the pressure to succeed, the burden of assimilation, and the ugly discrimination around which the story builds. There is also the air of invincibility within the novel that befits the young heroines. Combined with the exquisite details of dress, slang, atmosphere, and attitudes, China Dolls is an excellent example of historical fiction.

China Dolls is the type of novel that will make readers rage with frustration at the ignorance and incivility with which past generations treated other cultures. That this injustice does not limit itself to Caucasians but spans all cultures is equally disturbing. The prejudices between those of Chinese origins and those of Japanese descent are uncomfortable to witness but not nearly as unpleasant as the racial epithets Ms. See uses to highlight the challenges the girls face when trying to entertain a mainly white audience. Her matter-of-fact presentation of the ethnic disparity of the era is particularly gripping after the war starts, and blatant bigotry becomes acceptable in the guise of patriotism. While the story is about three girls willing to brave a cruel world filled with cultural and gender bias in order to live their dreams is filled with intrigue, joy, disappointment, and courage, the secondary story of the prejudices against anyone of Asian descent is equally compelling. show less

Zipping through my latest haul from the library, I found this gem. The story is centered on three Asian-American young women in pre-World War II San Fransisco. They all have different stories - Helen is the daughter in a wealthy Chinatown family, Grace has fled to SF to escape an abusive father, and Ruby is hiding her background. They bond and make it dancing in the pre-war Chinese nightclub Forbidden City. The story follows them until shortly after the end of World War II. The nightclub life and performing life were entertaining, but what makes the story is the will of these women. The story takes us through racism, poverty, friendship, deceit and love in a renewing journey. Recommended.

In this sweeping historical drama, we follow three Asian girls with a thirst for stardom growing up in San Francisco in the 30s. The three meet in Chinatown at an audition for dancers at a new nightclub. They come from different backgrounds and each has secrets but they recognize a kinship in each other. Together they will navigate the rocky world of show business and survive WWII. They will share hardships and trials of all kinds and learn how to keep dancing while their hearts are breaking. A powerful story from an often overlooked perspective.

I loved the historical setting, but this book fell a little flat for me in the character department. I didn't like any of the main characters. Ruby is genuine but so self-centered that all other show more people are something less than human to her. Grace is such a naive doormat I was almost glad when bad things happened to her. She's just too stupid to live. And Helen is such an underdeveloped figure her personality completely changes from chapter to chapter. In the beginning she's almost as naive as Grace having been raised in a secluded compound. Later she's the worldly one explaining to Grace about homosexuality and all the different slang terms for it. In the final half she has devolved into a one-dimensional Chines stereotype constantly peppering the dialogue with quasi-Confucian proverbs. By the end of the book I was getting a headache from rolling my eyes.

Helen is also basically a sociopath. She spends so much time blatantly lying to the other two (supposedly her best friends) and manipulating them to sabotage their relationships. She's an unrepentant racist and basically a soulless baby who refuses to "share" Grace's affections. After the scene where all secrets are revealed, I felt there was no sufficient resolution. They all just shrug their shoulders and go on being friends? Sorry! Not gonna happen! Especially not with Grace who, like I said, has some serious personality disorders and is frankly dangerous to be around. She's the sort of person who would harbor unresolved grievances that she mostly imagined for years and will probably end bathing in your blood. Eeeesh.

Countless times throughout this book I wondered aloud why they were friends if they hated each other so much. There are more than three people in the world, you can make new friends who won't constantly lie, cheat, betray, and report you to the cops. Like, why torture yourselves? show less

While I'm generally a fan of Lisa See, this is not one of my favorites.

CHINA DOLLS follows the story of three young "Chinese" women who become friends, beginning in 1938 until 1988. The ups and downs of their show business careers provide one theme of the book and I learned a lot about Chinese nightclubs, especially those in San Francisco before and during World War II. To me, however, this was not that interesting.

What did fascinate me was the descriptions of how Asian Americans were treated during World War II.
• How most Asians were lumped together, regardless of nationality, and subjected to discrimination.
• What it was like for American citizens of Japanese descent to be yanked out of their lives and sent to internment camps. show more
• And how ruthlessly the government persecuted innocent, but suspected Japanese sympathizers. (Reminiscent of post 9/11 treatment of Muslims)

As for why I only gave this 3 stars -- it's because of the portrayal of the friendship among the three women. Over the decades, despite what is described as a close and intense friendship, these women subject each other to petty jealousies, humiliations, lies, and manipulations. The friendship simply didn't ring true to me given these deceitful behaviors. Lisa See's unflattering portrait of friendship among women seemed to foster stereotypes of women as self-absorbed, spiteful, and selfish. And that simply hasn't been my experience with other women. show less

While I'm generally a fan of Lisa See, this is not one of my favorites.

CHINA DOLLS follows the story of three young "Chinese" women who become friends, beginning in 1938 until 1988. The ups and downs of their show business careers provide one theme of the book and I learned a lot about Chinese nightclubs, especially those in San Francisco before and during World War II. To me, however, this was not that interesting.

What did fascinate me was the descriptions of how Asian Americans were treated during World War II.
• How most Asians were lumped together, regardless of nationality, and subjected to discrimination.
• What it was like for American citizens of Japanese descent to be yanked out of their lives and sent to internment camps. show more
• And how ruthlessly the government persecuted innocent, but suspected Japanese sympathizers. (Reminiscent of post 9/11 treatment of Muslims)

As for why I only gave this 3 stars -- it's because of the portrayal of the friendship among the three women. Over the decades, despite what is described as a close and intense friendship, these women subject each other to petty jealousies, humiliations, lies, and manipulations. The friendship simply didn't ring true to me given these deceitful behaviors. Lisa See's unflattering portrait of friendship among women seemed to foster stereotypes of women as self-absorbed, spiteful, and selfish. And that simply hasn't been my experience with other women. show less

Let me start by being unfair to one of my favorite authors! If this was any other author I would probably give China Dolls a much higher rating. For Lisa See, however, this rates a 3 (7 on a 1 to 10 scale). Interesting story, well researched and I learned a lot about 1930's San Francisco, all the hallmarks of her fame. China Dolls, however, is simply not her best. 3 different narrators, one per chapter, didn't allow me to really know (or care about) any of the characters. I really think switching points of view dragged the plot to a crawl and the thread of enduring friendships that's suppose to be here (according to the marketing blurbs) got totally lost in the shuffle.

There, I've said it! I loved Snow Flower, Shanghai Girls and Dreams show more of Joy (Peony is sitting on my night stand) and am a big Lisa See fan. So three hits and a miss still leaves her at the top of my "Author's to Read No Matter What" list. show less

The story of Grace, Helen and Ruby, Chinese Americans coming of age during the World War II era, is told in alternating points of view from each of the three women. They meet by chance while auditioning for the part of showgirl at a nightclub in San Francisco, and soon become good friends, vowing to never let anything come between them. But through the years their friendships are tested as each tries to outshine the other; secrets are revealed and loyalties are betrayed.

The women’s characters are well-developed, as are their family, friends and coworkers. Rich with historical detail, the World War II era comes to life. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, paranoia and suspicion are heightened, and we vividly experience the show more prejudice, discrimination and racism of the times through each of the women’s eyes. Written with cringe-worthy realism, the author vividly portrays an unfortunate period of history where bigotry became acceptable, and even encouraged, to promote patriotism.

Perhaps it was the alternating viewpoints, the large number or characters or the need to fill in a lot of back story, but for me, the book had a slow start. At first the women seemed a lot alike. But once war broke out, their lives took different paths and the plot began to accelerate, following each woman’s life through the end of the war. The novel closes with a jump 50 years into the future, providing a satisfying epilogue to each of their stories.

Audio Production:

Jodi Lang’s narration was performed with emotion and enthusiasm. It took me an hour or so to get comfortable with her style, but once I did, the characters came alive.

Having multiple points-of-view and only one narrator, as opposed to using an ensemble cast, made the audio a little more difficult to follow, especially in the early part of the novel when we are still learning the back story. Plus, there were many secondary characters and their relationships to each women to remember. Jodi did change her voice while performing the narration for each of the girls, but Helen and Grace sounded too similar at times. While this book requires some additional concentration, experienced audio listeners should enjoy the production. show less