Historical Fiction- Ties That Bind, Ties That Break

Ties That Bind, Ties That Break 

Lensey Namioka 

I wanted to do different Historical Fiction books this week and this book stood out on the shelf. Not only was the title captivating enough, the story itself opened my eyes to the cultural differences in China and in America. In Ties that Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka, Tao Ailin is born in a time that China is in a terrible bind. She was arranged to marry a boy named Hanwei at a young age, but when she is about to get married, she is instructed to get her feet bound before marriage. In time of western revolution, she decides to not get her feet bound. With this, their marriage is broken off and she is taking the risk of not getting married. Will she ever get married with not getting her feet bound? Find out by reading Ties that Bind, Ties that Break!

I would give this book an eight out of ten. This book is a quick read, but has a long start. It has to explain a lot about Chinese culture and for someone that did not grow up with that, I had a little trouble. I will say that subtly it talks about women's rights and rights for independence. In the end, she walks the streets of San Francisco and she talks about how she feels accepted in the Western Society. When reading this, this moment left a last impression on me. For Historical Fiction, this book was very suspenseful. All of the traumatic events that happened to Ailin left me on the edge of my seat. I was shocked when the marriage was broken up. Please read this book to really understand China in 1911 and what she went through to get to America.