The lives of women in 15th-century China are illuminated in this engrossing novel. Tan Yunxian was a real historical figure who published a book about her career as a physician, but little is known about her personal life. See creates a rich story about a girl born into an aristocratic family. That accident of birth should have written her fate: limited education, bound feet, arranged marriage, childbirth, and a life spent entirely behind the walls of family compounds. She doesn't escape all of those things, but after the early death of her mother, she's raised by her paternal grandparents, who are both doctors, and given an unusually advanced education, including in the healing arts they practice. Yunxian's life is constrained by rules governing her class and gender, and she is literally never alone--even when she sleeps, her maid sleeps at the foot of her bed. Her family's wealthy extended household has an elaborate structure, and she learns early to negotiate the gradations among first wives, second wives, and concubines and to recognize that, like them, she is valued for beauty and fertility and little else. She breaks a rule, though, when she becomes friends with Meiling, the daughter of Midwife Shi, who delivers the family's babies. As Yunxian's grandmother says, midwives are "indispensable"--male doctors are not allowed to look at or touch their female patients--but they're also reviled for their contact with blood and practice of abortion. The lifelong friendship between Yunxian and Meiling will have an indelible impact on both women, and in a later portion of the book they'll even be involved in an attempted murder trial. Yunxian's arranged marriage is a fairly happy one, but as she matures, she grows more focused on practicing as a physician. She sometimes has insight into the inequities of feudal China, especially the treatment of working-class women. But she's hardly revolutionary; even though she experienced the brutal pain of foot binding and watched her mother die of an infection caused by it, she binds the feet of her three daughters without question. Although the book's pace can sometimes slow, it's packed with historical detail. Women's friendships in a world where they have little freedom shape a quietly moving book. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In See's satisfactory latest (after The Island of Sea Women), Tan Yunxian, a historical doctor from 15th-century China, finds her calling at odds with other traditional duties of marriage and motherhood. After Yunxian's mother dies from an infection, she's sent to live with her doting paternal grandparents, both physicians who teach her the art of medicine. There, Yunxian develops an intimate friendship with Meiling, the daughter of a midwife--a profession considered taboo by many elite families such as Yunxian's. After she marries into a wealthy merchant family, Yunxian's mother-in-law puts a stop to her work, forcing her to live as a proper Confucian woman, and she becomes isolated from Meiling and her passion for medicine. See weaves an appealing tale of female love and loyalty as the women in Yunxian's life rally around her, eventually leading to the publication of her book Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor, which the author draws on. Though the pacing can feel slow and the outcome a tad predictable, See adds intrigue with a side plot involving a mysterious death, along with notable depictions of footbinding and the intricacies of Chinese medicine. See's fans will find much to enjoy. Agent: Sandy Dijkstra, Sandy Dijkstra Literary Agency. (June)

Actress Jennifer Lim's subdued narration brings a down-to-earth realism to See's (The Island of Sea Women) new novel, inspired by the true story of Tan Yunxian, a woman physician who practiced in 15th-century Ming China. Born to an elite family of scholars and trained by her physician grandparents, Yunxian is introduced to a midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two become fast friends and stay connected throughout the ups and downs of their lives. After marrying into a wealthy family, Yunxian is forced to stop her work and is restricted to a narrow, Confucianism-centered world with constant supervision. Here, her medical knowledge is irrelevant; it is only her beauty and her ability to bear children that determine her worth. This tale of traditional medicine, foot-binding, and the suffocating lives of women confined to "inside rooms" is bracketed by introductory and postscript materials narrated by actor, writer, and producer Justin Chien, who also voices several of Yunxian's male relatives. VERDICT Share with See's loyal fans and anyone interested in Chinese history and medicine. An excellent recommendation for book groups and for readers who enjoy historical fiction about women living in highly regulated patriarchal societies.--David Faucheux