Adult Book Club Discussion
Lady Tan's Circle of Women
Please join us for one of our meetings of our Adult Book Club scheduled for Friday, November 8 at 1:30 pm and Tuesday, November 12, at 1:00 pm. We will be discussing the book "Lady Tan's Circle of Women" by Lisa See.
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.
From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.
But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.
How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
Copies of the book are available for checkout at the library.
What: Adult Book Club
When/Where: Friday, November 8, at 1:30 p.m. - East Troy Lions Public Library
OR
When/Where: Tuesday, November 12, at 1:00 p.m. - East Troy Lions Public Library
East Troy Lions Public Library Adult Book Club Reading List 2024
January: The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
February: Deep by James Nestor
March: Old Filth by Jane Gardam
April: Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
May: Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
June: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
July: Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
August: Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Anderson Cooper & K. Howe
September: The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner
October: The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
November: Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
December: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes