This is the continuation of the story of sisters Pearl and May that we got to know (and worried about ) in Shanghai Girls. Pearl's daughter, Joy who is now 19 and a college student discovers that May is her birth mother, which has been a secret between the sisters since Joy was born. Joy reacts very strongly to the news and decides to flee to China and find her birth father, the famous Chinese artist, Z.G. She embraces the Chinese revolution of the Great Leap Forward philosophy of Mao. She falls in love and settles in Green Dragon Village commune and becomes a comrade in building a socialist China. Pearl goes to China in search of Joy and finds a very different Shanghai (once called the Paris of Asia) which is now communist controlled and no longer the beautiful, cosmopolitan city it was twenty years before. As revolution continues, the descriptions of what happens in the villages with the massive starvation of the peasants is harrowing. This part reminded me a bit of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Pearl becomes aware that Joy is in danger and becomes determined to help her escape from China.

This could be a stand alone book, but I would recommend reading Shanghai Girls first; it really will enhance this story. My favorite Lisa See is still Snow Flower and the Secret Fan but I really did like the story of Pearl and May and now Joy. ~Cindy