Laurel’s Reviews > The Lost Kingdom of Daughters: A Novel > Status Update

Sese, also commonly known as Walking Marriage in Chinese. In this system, lovers have no economic or legal ties, and their relationship is based on mutual affection. It ends when one party expresses a wish to end the relationship. It can last for years, develop into a lifelong relationship, or dissolve after one night. The children belong to the mother; the men raise their sisters’ children.

“I think love is forgiveness, love is devotion, and we Moso people know all about this. But there’s one thing that is beyond our understanding. It’s this: Love is selfish. It has ownership, it has a name, it needs a home.”

The Moso women could pick any men they lust after and call it love.” I speak with mixed feelings. “You’re not wrong. We are simple people; just as we pay little attention to the hours of the day, we have little need to comprehend the nuances of love and relationships. What we care for are our daughters.”

Our final farewell. All her lovers, including my father from another village, arrived to send her away. The chimes rang, the horn blew, the white banners shuddered in the wind. We formed a procession, women first and then men, and chased the square box that contained her body and the effigy dressed in Mother’s clothes, following her as she traveled from the village and then to the Ridge of Tomorrow in a circle.

Death, after all, was an assignment for men, who were in charge of caring for the dead, while we women were tasked to tend to the living.

“Love is like seasons, it comes and goes, but friends are mountains that stand for ages,”

What was love if there was no forgiveness?

Men only have responsibility for their sisters’ children; they do not have their own children.”

Grabbed me from the first page!