Book # 35 Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. Very GOOD! May and Pearl are beautiful girls living in Shanghai, 1937, the Paris of Asia, modeling for artists. They are from a wealthy, privileged family. They dress up, cruise the nightlife, defy their parents and basically look down their gorgeous nose at everyone as beneath them. This all changes when their father, a wealthy rickshaw businessman, has to pay off his debts to the Green Gang. The girls are given arranged marriages to young men from the US. The sisters endure the Japanese attack, the horrors of Angel Island, the prejudice and fear of being deported back to China, the Communist hunts, and mega sisterly rivalry, all while trying to assimilate into American culture in Hollywood and Chinatown. The story is brutal and tender. Lisa See is good at spinning a tale and at explaining relationships. The book brings to light the clash of Chinese culture and American history. This is definitely a "woman's story". It reminded me of The Joy Luck Club. I think it will make a great movie