China Dolls by Lisa See
China Dolls by Lisa See
It’s 1938 and the exclusive Oriental nightclub in San Francisco’s Forbidden City is holding auditions for showgirls. In the dark, scandalous glamour of the club, three girls from very different backgrounds stumble into each other lives.
All the girls have secrets. Grace, an American-born Chinese girl, has fled the Midwest and an abusive father. Helen is from a Chinese family which has deep roots in San Francisco’s Chinatown. And, as both her friends know, Ruby is Japanese passing as Chinese.
Then, in a heartbeat, everything changes. The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and paranoia, suspicion, and a shocking act of betrayal, threaten to destroy their lives.
Review
The most fascinating thing about this story is the history of the all Chinese revue shows that became famous during that era and the fictional characters are interspersed with real life performers who made their name at that time. As usual, Lisa See’s research is impeccable and she vividly captures the feel of the era, however I felt the racist and misogynistic tones were better explored in The Shanghai Girls.
Unfortunately, the friendship between the three girls never really convinced me as they all seemed to have ulterior motives and the conflicts designed to test their relationship were swept aside far too quickly instead of being explored in depth. The story is told in the first person narrative from each girl’s point of view, however their voices weren’t very distinct and I sometimes had a hard time remembering which girl was talking. The dialogue was full of showbiz slang which may have been true to the era but got distinctly annoying after a while. There is also a whole lot of telling going on rather than showing which I wouldn’t have expected from this author.
The tension increases once the Japanese attack Pearl Harbour, although there is barely a mention of the war in Europe prior to this moment, and there is a brief foray into the increased paranoia against the Japanese. Once Ruby’s secret is exposed, she is arrested and sent to the internment camps but her time here is not really explored in any real depth and she is released before too long. I was disappointed the camps were not explored more, particularly since See did such a great job of detailing the fear of communism in The Shanghai Girls so that is definitely something I’m going to seek out in other books.
After the war ends, normal service resumes and the girls manage to get their careers back on track, although Helen seems to have been forgotten about for a while until it is time for the girls all to have a heart to heart over past betrayals. The hard feelings are quickly brushed aside for the sake of their last chance at stardom but the newly reformed act’s days are numbered as they seek different things.
The whole concept of the book was a nice idea, exploring a part of American Chinese history that is probably unfamiliar to many but it just wasn’t executed to Lisa See’s usual standard.
