Julia Mortimer

A beautiful piece of writing exploring the boundaries between memory and reality, the past and the present, mothers and daughters, artistic freedom and domestic drudgery. Anita Desai creates an intimacy with the reader through her use of the second person narrative while the shocking imagery of the horrors of partition and of the Mexican Revolution serve as a reminder that beautiful language is often the most effective way of Evonio g a horrific past.

Very interesting historically and clearly well researched but I found the writing rather stilted and the relationships not always convincing. The New York Times said it felt more like a historical re-enactment than an immersive experience and that summed up my thoughts about it. Nevertheless, I learned a lot about Chinese medicine, about the abomination that was foot binding and about life for women during that period of history.