Writer Lisa See uses her talent for mystery to transport the reader into the alien world of rural nineteenth-century China. A land of arranged marriages, foot binding, superstition and Confucius; a world where the size of a woman's feet determines her social success; a society where women spend their days in upstairs chambers, kowtowing to elders, serving tea and communicating in nu shu, a secret language known only to women. Holding this together is the friendship between Lily and Snow Flower, their story told in secret symbols written on an exquisite fan. Lisa See is the author of "Flower Net" (an Edgar Award nominee), "The Interior," and "Dragon Bones," as well as the critically acclaimed memoir "On Gold Mountain."