Lily is the daughter of a humble farmer, and to her family she is just
another expensive mouth to feed. Then the local matchmaker delivers
startling news: if Lily's feet are bound properly, they will be
flawless. In nineteenth-century China, where a woman's eligibility is
judged by the shape and size of her feet, this is extraordinary good
luck. Lily now has the power to make a good marriage and change the
fortunes of her family. To prepare for her new life, she must undergo
the agonies of footbinding, learn nu shu, the famed secret
women's writing, and make a very special friend, Snow Flower. But a
bitter reversal of fortune is about to change everything.