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Lisa See Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Lisa See

Lisa See

Lisa See Biography

Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, China Dolls, and Dreams of Joy, which debuted at #1. She is also the author of On Gold Mountain, which tells the story of her Chinese American family's settlement in Los Angeles. See was the recipient of the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Association of Southern California and the Historymaker's Award from the Chinese American Museum. She was also named National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women.

Lisa See's website

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Interview

In two separate interviews, Lisa See talks about Peony in Love (2007) and Shanghai Girls (2009).

In two separate interviews, Lisa See talks about Peony in Love (2007) and Shanghai Girls (2009).

Lisa See discusses Shanghai Girls

What inspired you to write Shanghai Girls?

Four things, really. First, I've been collecting Shanghai advertising images from the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties for many years. The so-called Beautiful Girls, women who posed for commercial artists, were right in the heart of the excitement in Shanghai. The charming and captivating life illustrated in advertisements is one thing, but I was interested in seeing what real life was like for those women. I also wanted to write about what it was like for Chinese women who came to America in arranged marriages. (We had a lot of arranged marriages in my family. I know how hard life was for the women. They'd had servants in China, but they lived like servants in America.) Third, I wanted to write about China City, a short-lived tourist attraction in Los Angeles. And finally, I wanted to write about sisters.


What is it about Shanghai that so captures the imagination?

In part it's the juxtaposition of extreme opposites—dire poverty amidst flamboyant wealth, upstanding English gentlemen going to the same nightclubs as...

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Books by this Author

Books by Lisa See at BookBrowse
Lady Tan's Circle of Women jacket The Island of Sea Women jacket The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane jacket China Dolls jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Lisa See but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Melanie Benjamin

    Melanie Benjamin

    Melanie Benjamin is the New York Times bestselling author of The Children's Blizzard, Mistress of the Ritz, The Girls in the Picture, The Swans of Fifth Avenue, The Aviator's Wife, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, and ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    China Dolls

    Try:
    The Girls in the Picture
    by Melanie Benjamin

  • Alan Brennert

    Alan Brennert

    Alan Brennert is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He was born in 1954 in Englewood, New Jersey, to Herbert E. Brennert, an aviation writer, and Almyra E. Brennert, an apartment rentals manager. He has lived since ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Shanghai Girls

    Try:
    Honolulu
    by Alan Brennert

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