Lisa See
Lisa See has always been intrigued by stories about women that have been lost, forgotten, or deliberately covered up, whether in the past or happening right now in the world today. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Daughters of the Sun and Moon, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, The Island of Sea Women, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, China Dolls, and Dreams of Joy, which debuted at #1. She is also the author of On Gold Mountain, which tells the story of her Chinese American family’s settlement in Los Angeles. Her books have been published in forty languages.
Ms. See has led an active and varied career. She wrote the libretto for Los Angeles Opera based on On Gold Mountain. She has served as guest curator for exhibits on the Chinese-American experience at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage and curated the inaugural exhibition at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles.
Ms. See was honored as National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women in 2001, was the recipient of the Chinese American Museum’s History Makers Award in 2003, and received the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California in 2017. She sits on the boards of Los Angeles Opera, the 1871 Chinese Massacre Foundation, and the Trusteeship—an organization comprised of preeminent women of achievement and influence in diverse fields.
Book Review:
Beloved New York Times bestselling author Lisa See draws on the vibrancy and turmoil of post-Civil War Los Angeles to tell the story of three of only thirty-four Chinese women living in the tiny pueblo. Dove wants to love and be loved, Petal desires freedom, and Moon seeks justice. During the real-life Night of Horrors, a long-forgotten, bloody episode of American history, the women are brought together by hardship and heartbreak. They must use their bravery, endurance, and ability to “eat bitterness” to discover their voices, find freedom, and connect through solace and friendship. Together they are daughters of the sun and moon.
Photo Credit: Patricia Williams
