Ask the Author: Lisa See
Answered Questions (272)
Lisa See
The reason Visalia is mentioned several times is because I found that many of the runaways would go there. This information was found in newspaper accounts and also court transcripts. I thought it was interesting how much ground women could cover just on their own two feet. It really showed how deeply they desired freedom.
Lisa See
Are you asking why the mother has her feet bound? It's because women of high status, concubines, and courtesans all had their feet bound in those days in China. It was a mark of social status.
Lisa See
I grew up in a very large Chinese American family. When I was a little girl--and people were still having very large families--I had about 400 relatives in Los Angeles alone. In part because of that I saw and continue to see racism every day.
And let me add that a lot happens around the assumption you've just taken.
And let me add that a lot happens around the assumption you've just taken.
Lisa See
I'm so glad you liked it! It's a tough read. So many tragic things happen, but I always knew I was writing toward a happy ending.
Are you asking which of my books to read next or what book of someone else's to read next? My thirteenth book is coming out in June. You have Daughters of the Sun and Moon to keep an eye out for.
Are you asking which of my books to read next or what book of someone else's to read next? My thirteenth book is coming out in June. You have Daughters of the Sun and Moon to keep an eye out for.
Lisa See
I haven't read it. Thank you for letting me know about it. I'm going to look it up right now.
Lisa See
This is so exciting! I think you're the first person outside the publishing company to read Daughters of the Sun and Moon, at least that I know of. Thank you for your very kind words about the book.
I don't quite know how to answer your question. I first wrote a tiny bit about the massacre in my first book, On Gold Mountain, which came out back in 1995. (31 years ago! Eeek!) So I've known about it for a long time. The novel took two years to write, but that includes dedicated research time. I don't think anything I wrote about was anecdotal from my family history, except that it was one of the reasons my great-grandparents moved to Los Angeles. After the massacre, city fathers promoted Los Angeles as a safe place for Chinese. My great-grandparents--a mixed-race couple with biracial children--wanted to believe that the city would indeed be safe for them. So how long did it take to do the research? Two years, thirty years, or maybe a lifetime...
I don't quite know how to answer your question. I first wrote a tiny bit about the massacre in my first book, On Gold Mountain, which came out back in 1995. (31 years ago! Eeek!) So I've known about it for a long time. The novel took two years to write, but that includes dedicated research time. I don't think anything I wrote about was anecdotal from my family history, except that it was one of the reasons my great-grandparents moved to Los Angeles. After the massacre, city fathers promoted Los Angeles as a safe place for Chinese. My great-grandparents--a mixed-race couple with biracial children--wanted to believe that the city would indeed be safe for them. So how long did it take to do the research? Two years, thirty years, or maybe a lifetime...
Lisa See
I haven't heard of Koxinga.
Lisa See
I haven't heard of Hazel. Have you heard of Katherine Cheung, the first Chinese American woman to become a pilot? Isn't it amazing how many wonderful stories of women there are out there? They inspire me every day.
Lisa See
Ha! I just answered that question. No worries! You inspired me to pull out the book and take a look...
Lisa See
What a great -- and fun! -- question. I don't know the answer, but here's what I found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_(sha...
Lisa See
I don't know why I'm not seeing this question until now. But here I am at last. I'm hoping you came up with your character names a long, long time ago, and the writing is going smoothly. In case you haven't, there are so many variables when creating names. Is a name appropriate to the culture and the time period in which the story takes place? Sometimes names can have a theme -- flowers, semi-precious stones, places. Sometimes a name just come to me...
Lisa See
That's because those quotes are all for THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN. I just had to check, and it says that at the top of the jacket.
Lisa See
Dear Barbara,
I'm sorry it's taken me four months to respond. Eeek! Somehow this slipped through the cracks. Each book takes me about two years. The research is by far the longest part of the process. It's also my favorite part of the process. It's like a big treasure hunt. I never know what I'm going to find.
I'm sorry it's taken me four months to respond. Eeek! Somehow this slipped through the cracks. Each book takes me about two years. The research is by far the longest part of the process. It's also my favorite part of the process. It's like a big treasure hunt. I never know what I'm going to find.
Lisa See
Differnt novels have been optioned over the years to be made into a film or TV show. Only one was made: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Right now two books are in development. We'll see what happens...
Lisa See
I'm sorry, but I didn't see your questions until just this morning. Yes, I'm working on a new novel write. I'm very close to completely the first draft, which is why I've been ignoring other responsibilities...like checking Goodreads.
Lisa See
Such as astute question, but I think you've answered it yourself. In conversation the word would be "ta," as you point out. That's what I was thinking when I wrote that scene. However, you're right in the sense that this distinction isn't conveyed in English in the text. While I didn't explain this in this book, I know that I have in a couple of my other novels. Sometimes I don't want to slow the reader down with too much detail. Interestingly, in the novel I'm writing now, just yesterday I had a scene in which I was comparing written characters about men and women. Wife -- woman with a broom, and so on.
Lisa See
I did all the research about my great-grandmother, who was born in South Dakota. But in the end I put that novel aside to write Lady Tan's Circle of Women. Maybe I'll return to Jessie's story one of these days...
Lisa See
Tan Yunxian was a real person. I discovered her when I was reading a book about women's reproduction in the Ming Dynasty. Then I found her book. The more I read about her, the more intrigued I became.
Lisa See
I don't plan to write an entire book about Tyrus. I have a chapter about him in On Gold Mountain. There's now a children's book about him and also a forthcoming biography written by Karen Fang.
Lisa See
I am one-eighth Chinese. I grew up in a very large Chinese American family.
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