Peony In Love: A Novel

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. The women 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 17th-century China, after the Manchus seize power and the Ming dynasty is crushed. Steeped in traditions and ritual, bestselling author Lisa See's 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. Ultimately, this novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard.