Shanghai Girls Audiobook By Lisa See cover art

Shanghai Girls

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Shanghai Girls

By: Lisa See
Narrated by: Janet Song
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.00

Buy for $25.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Shanghai, 1937. Pearl and May are two sisters from a bourgeois family. Though their personalities are very different - Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid - they are inseparable best friends.

Both are beautiful, modern, and living carefree lives until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away the family's wealth and that in order to repay his debts, he must sell the girls as wives to two 'Gold Mountain' men: Americans.

As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, the two sisters set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the villages of Southern China, in and out of the clutches of brutal soldiers, and even across the ocean, through the humiliation of an anti-Chinese detention centre to a new, married life in Los Angeles' Chinatown. Here they begin a fresh chapter despite the racial discrimination and anti-Communist paranoia because now they have something to strive for: a young, American-born daughter, Joy.

Along the way there are terrible sacrifices, impossible choices, and one devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding novel by Lisa See hold fast to who they are - Shanghai Girls.

©2009 Lisa See (P)2015 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Fiction Historical Fiction China Imperial Japan

Critic reviews

"Part love story, part family saga, part historical fiction, this vividly descriptive book is above all an exploration of the trials and triumphs, the rivalries and delights of sisterhood." ( The Daily Mail)
"A triumph on every level, a beautiful heartbreaking story." ( The Washington Post)
All stars
Most relevant  
This a a great story of live life and tragedy with relevant historical context. A great read. I did wonder if there is a book two as it leaves the story line open at the end.

Loved every minute

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.