Why a Booktrail?
1800s: A young child is sold to a wealthy family to become a handmaid.
The Lotus Shoes
What you need to know before your trail
As a child, Little Flower is sold to Linjing’s wealthy family to become a muizai. In a fit of childish jealousy over her new handmaiden’s ladylike bound feet and talent for embroidery, Linjing ensures Little Flower can never leave her to ascend in society.
Despite their starkly different places in the Fong household, over the years the two girls must work together to secure both their futures through Linjing’s marriage. As the two grow up, they are by turns bitter rivals and tentative friends.
Until scandal strikes the family, and Linjing and Little Flower’s lives are unexpectedly thrown into chaos. Linjing’s fall from grace could be an opportunity for Little Flower – but will their intertwined fates lead to triumph, or tragedy for them both?
Travel Guide
China
Foshan Liangs’ Garden
Scenes from the first half of the story are largely set within the Fong residence, a fictional house inspired by the Foshen Liang Garden
The Hall of Eternal Purity
The second half of The Lotus Shoes unfolds at the Hall of Eternal Purity.
Naguo Sidu Silk Museum
This place is a gem—the land around the museum mimics like a silk reeling settlement. So, this was the perfect model for the Chan village in The Lotus Shoes where the Celibate Sisters worked and lived.
Yuyuan Garden
Walking around this district is an immersive step back in time. I often thought about my visit here as I wrote street scenes for The Lotus Shoes.
Trail Gallery
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Lotus Shoes
Destination/location: China, Foshan, Guangdong Province Author/guide: Jane Yang Departure Time: 1880s
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