China Dolls by Lisa See

This book is historical fiction.  I enjoy reading the genre and enjoyed the book.  I went on-line afterward to read what others had to say regarding it and found a mixed bag of comments. Folks either liked it or found it wanting.  For those who did not like it they wondered how these three women became and remained friends despite such varied backgrounds.  Having given some thought to that I find it much easier to see how they did versus how they would not. 

It was 1938 and these three women were doing what most young ladies would never do—let alone young ladies of breeding.  However, each was a damaged person in her own way.  Grace Lee was fleeing an abusive father. Ruby Tom was hiding her Japanese heritage and Helen Fong was dealing with many issues, least of all being a daughter who had perceivably brought shame to the family. The author does a good job of letting the reader know what the backstory is to each girl as the story develops. Helen’s story is the last to be fully detailed.  It goes to the heart of many traditional Asian families of the time who held daughters accountable for things beyond their control.

Relationships are interesting.  Grace and Ruby wanted the same man.  Ruby was not picky about her relationships and Grace was.  Helen appears a bit jealous of both at times, possibly because she is judged so harshly.  While she seemed to like both girls, I do believe Grace was her best friend as they had more in common than did Helen and Ruby.  When Helen turned Ruby into the authorities for being Japanese she was dealing with her past.  It is not until near the end of the book that we learn why she did this.  Maybe this is why some thought these girls would never have been friends.

Those who did enjoy the book liked the details of the circuit of dance girls and the entertainment of the late 30s and even to the post war era.  I do not recall ever hearing about the travelling shows discussed in the book but then I doubt they ever made it to WV!  Reading the Acknowledgements at the book’s end lets me know that such tours existed and so did many of the people in the book.  Fascinating characters formed from collections of history makes this book come alive for me.

Grace Lee is a talented young lady running for her life.  She makes her way in a hard world and with the help of Ruby and Helen survives in a world that could have eaten her alive.  She meets Joe early, falls in love, appears to lose him to Ruby and eventually marries him and lives a great life.  She was always focused on making a life for herself.  She however, never forgot her mother, sending money back to her through her own dance teacher. This was done to protect her mother from her father’s wrath. It is amazing that her father for all his abusive actions toward her remained proud of Grace to his dying day. If only he would have shown that instead of beating her.  But, then she would not have left, made her way to San Francisco and become famous.

Helen Fong was a dutiful daughter. Her parents had sent her back to China where she married a Chinese man. Then why was her own father so derogatory?  Was it only because she was a girl?  Helen meets Grace and sees in her someone she fears she will never be—strong and independent.  Helen takes a stand about dancing telling her father she will be adding more to the family coffers than her brothers.  Money talks and she goes into business.  When she meets and falls in love with an Occidental she is continuing to shame her family.  Becoming pregnant does not help. So, marrying a gay man makes it all better.  She has Tommy, her father is happy she is married and ironically, Eddie is more accepted by her father than she is.  Sad that her father never seemed to recognize her value any more than Grace’s did.  Still she goes on to become very successful herself. Only when we learn her true story to we realize just how strong a person Helen really is.

Ruby Tom so wanted to be someone other than who she was.  Being Japanese was not easy before the war and certainly not easier after the war.  She did what she had to do to survive and didn’t really care who she used or hurt in the process. At least that is the way she is portrayed.  I think she has a different backstory that wasn’t brought completely out by the author.  Learning to entertain all those Navy guys at a very young age indicates there is much more than just being a dancer to her life.  She is the one who essentially dances nude in the shows, has numerous affairs and even five husbands. 

I think even the naming of these girls reflects their character.  Grace was graceful. She was caring and forgiving. Ruby was flashy even to the end.  Helen was stable and strong.  So, I tend to agree that Lisa See developed a great historical novel about interesting women who lived in a time fraught with hardship and progress.  They survived.  Many did not.