Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai Girls | 2009 | Lisa See | Buy |
| 2 | Dreams of Joy | 2011 | Lisa See | Buy |
The May and Pearl series by Lisa See follows two Chinese sisters from 1930s Shanghai to 1960s America and China. Shanghai Girls (2009) begins as May and Pearl are sold by their father to men in Los Angeles just as the Japanese invade Shanghai. The sisters must escape China and build new lives in a country that often treats them with suspicion.
Dreams of Joy (2011) picks up the story years later, when Pearl’s daughter Joy goes to China, drawn by Mao’s vision of a new society. Joy arrives just as the Great Leap Forward devastates the countryside. The two books together cover three decades of Chinese and Chinese American history through the experiences of one family.