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Peony in Love: A Novel

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Manufacturer: Random House
Category: EBooks

List Price: ~~$11.95~~
Buy New: $9.56
You Save: $2.39 (20%)

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

104 reviews
Sales Rank: 1059

Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304

Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
ASIN: B000R4FYAU

Publication Date: June 26, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
“I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved to passion; in autumn only regret.”

For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes from this epic opera, a live spectacle few females have ever seen. Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is the cloistered daughter of a wealthy family, trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has dreams of her own.

Peony’s mother is against her daughter’s attending the production: “Unmarried girls should not be seen in public.” But Peony’s father assures his wife that proprieties will be maintained, and that the women will watch the opera from behind a screen. Yet through its cracks, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave–and is immediately overcome with emotion.

So begins Peony’s unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow–as Lisa See’s haunting new novel, based on actual historical events, takes readers back to seventeenth-century China, after the Manchus seize power and the Ming dynasty is crushed.

Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another time and place–even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its protocols, pathways, and stages of existence, a vividly imagined place where one’s soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of the afterlife, transcending even death, Peony in Love explores, beautifully, the many manifestations of love. Ultimately, Lisa See’s new novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews: Read 99 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

a fairy tale filled with chinese history November 20, 2008
no need for details. this book has stayed with me. i now feel that loved ones that have past on really do remain or return for certain reasons or unfinished business. this novel was a beautiful and romantic ghost story.... i loved every page

1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing November 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I loved Snowflower and the Secret Fan so couldn't wait to read this book. What I found was a ridiculous mishmash of ghosts, the afterlife, superstition and illogic. Peony and Ren fall madly and eternally in love after spending minutes together over three nights. We are treated to tales of superstition and rigid Chinese customs that seem to lack any humanity or basic kindness most of the time. In places the machinations of these ghosts become laughable. I was relieved to finish.

1 out of 5 stars

Silly predictable plot November 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I was very disappointed in this book. If I had not been reading it for a book club I might not have even bothered investing the time to finish the book. The main character was very frustrating to even read about..a silly anorexic immature spoiled girl. The plot was very predictable and as I read I hoped along the way that my predictions would be wrong so I could be surprised, but alas, no. The story line was plodding, predictable, and just plain silly. The only redeeming quality in the story was the interesting information regarding the culture during that time.

3 out of 5 stars

Didn't meet my expectations October 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I absolutely loved Snowflower And The Secret Fan, so I had high hopes for this novel by the same author.
I didn't hate it, and there were many parts that I genuinely enjoyed, but overall the plotline really needed help. At times it seemed to be going nowhere, and quite frankly I got sick of Peony's obsession with a man she never knew. I found the parts about the Chinese culture's beliefs in the afterlife really interesting, so that kept me reading. I just wish the story itself had a little more depth to it.

5 out of 5 stars

Favorite Summer Fiction Read October 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Such a wonderful love story. I wanted to be there and in the moment. It felt so real at times. I wanted to believe in the story so much....that all of it was really possible.

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