This month's BAM challenge was to read a book that involves the heart. I chose Snow Flower and the Secret Fan which is also the January/February pick for SFPL's On the Same Page: San Francisco Reads program. It is an unconventional love story of sorts, and is really quite tragic.

This story takes place in 19th century remote China, and it tells of the long-standing friendship between two women, Lily and Snow Flower, and their place in society. The story is also about the abuse that women endure in the form of arranged marriages, footbinding, and the pressure to produce sons. Though illiterate in men's writing, the women in this book learn to communicate through Nu Shu, their own form of written language, and their only form of empowerment. I strongly recommend this book, though the excerpts about footbinding are not for the squeamish.