Sue’s Reviews > Lady Tan’s Circle of Women > Status Update

Each morning I pierce a vein at my wrist, let the blood drip into a cup, add tea brewed with healing herbs, and hold it to her lips.

ailing mothers-in-law or sickly sons. She spoke of wives so dedicated and loyal that they licked their husbands’ festering wounds or sucked poisons from snake or insect bites. She praised the wife who stood in a snowstorm, freezing herself so she could lie beside her husband to relieve his fever.

“Poppy, we’re going to need Midwife Quon,” I say. My maid disappears and returns with the midwife. She does not flinch or lose color. Blood is her business.

MENOPAUSE?

The widow tells me that her monthly moon water is irregular. She has trouble sleeping and is plagued by bouts of sweating. She says she’s always taken humble pride in being sharp of mind. “But now I can’t remember a thing!” she complains.

Gross: We must prize and care for them but also be watchful with every step we take. Our tottering and swaying on our spindly and weak legs make us appealing to men, but a single misstep or fall can change our futures.

PREECLAMPSIA

her. If infant-cord rigidity creeps inside a woman, her back will become stiff and eventually bend backward like a bow. Her jaw will lock until death relieves her agony.

More of grandmas awesomeness:

“I’m not angry at you,” she says. “I’m irritated with men. I’m lucky to love your grandfather, but most men—other doctors, especially—don’t like to see us succeed. You must always show them respect and let them think they know more than you do, while understanding that you can achieve something they never can. You can actually help women.”

smallpox-planting master when you were little?” “I don’t know who that is.” “He travels from village to village, trying to stay ahead of the disease. He carries with him scabs from those who were sick. For me, he wrapped two scabs in cotton, stuck them in my nose, and then sealed it for a day and night with wax.”

I like Grandma! A woman is the only animal on earth who should not deliver her offspring alone, because the baby comes out facedown, making it nearly impossible for a woman to pull it out by herself. A midwife is indispensable, whether you like it or not.”

“Confucius made clear that any profession in which blood is involved is considered to be beneath us,” Grandfather agrees.