“Whether animal or woman, we are a man’s possessions. We women exist to give him heirs and feed, clothe and amuse him. Never forget that,” Respectful Lady instructs our protagonist at the beginning of this novel. This scene, which takes place as mother and daughter endure the pains of foot binding, sets the tone for the book, and the roles women are expected to occupy in 15th century China.

The subject of this novel is “Tan Yunxian”, a real-life female physician who lived and worked in a time women were not allowed to. It explores her life, her career, and the women who made her. Following her mother’s death from a foot infection, Yunxian is sent to live with her physician grandparents. There, she learns the tenets of medicine under her Grandmother’s instruction. In the course of her apprenticeship, she befriends Meiling, who is the daughter of Midwife Shi. This friendship, though encouraged by her grandmother, is forbidden. Yunxian is born into an aristocratic family and lives a live sheltered by privilege while Meiling is lower class and seen as unclean because in a society run by Confucian ideals, midwives come into contact with ‘corrupting blood’.

Their friendship grows in spite of numerous challenges, but is cut short when Yunxian marries into a wealthy family. There, Yunxian is faced with a stern mother-in-law who forbids her friendship with Meiling. Eventually though, Meiling and Yunxian reunite in a turn of fates.

Their friendship offers a keen look into the vast class divide that separates these women, and yet the shared experiences that bond women- fertility, childbirth- makes this an insightful read. This novel is historical fiction at its finest, with sharp research that immerses you into the lives of the women in 15th-century China.