The Friends of the Coronado Public Library present author Lisa See in-person, in partnership with Warwicks Bookstore, as she discusses and signs her new book, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. This event will take place on Thursday, June 8 at 7 pm in the Nautilus Room at the Coronado Community Center.
This event is a fund-raiser for the Friends of the Coronado Public Library and a paid ticket is required to enter. Ticket options are:
- $10 entry only
- $28 for admission for one person and one copy of Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, to be picked up at check-in the evening of the event
- $38 for admission for two people and one copy of Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, to be picked up at check-in the evening of the event
- All seating is unnumbered and first-come, first-served.
- “With Book” ticketholders will receive a copy of Lisa See’s book when they check in.
- Additional books will be available for purchase at this event.
For tickets, visit: https://www.warwicks.com/event/see-2023
Please call the Warwick’s Book Department at 858-454-0347 for more information.
Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of 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. See was the recipient of the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Association of Southern California and the Historymaker’s Award from the Chinese American Museum. She was also named National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women.
About Lady Tan’s Circle of Women:
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian — born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness– is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations — looking, listening, touching, and asking — things a man can never do with a female patient.
From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose — despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it — and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.
But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife — embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.
How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
The Friends of the Coronado Public Library (FOL), founded in 1970, is a public benefit non-profit organization whose primary mission is to support the Coronado Public Library. The Library has two sources of funds to maintain this fabulous community resource. Tax dollars, through the City of Coronado yearly budget, pays for all essential services needed to run the Library, such as salaries, the building and grounds upkeep and maintaining its collection of books, DVDs, takeaways and other printed materials. But just as important to any Library are its programs, for its children, teens and adults. And that is where the Friends of the Coronado Public Library comes in. FOL provides ALL of the economic resources for what the City would consider “non-essential” resources, i.e. ALL the programs and ALL the extra items (art exhibits, etc.) which make our Library so special.
