Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

Lady Tan was a female doctor practicing as best she was able to during the 1500's Ming Dynasty China. At a time where women had no rights at all and their pain and suffering was considered the ultimate love for their husband, women were never examined directly by a doctor but through a screen with a woman go between. Women grew to depend on themselves and knew a multitude of herbal remedies and a wealth of knowledge from assisting births as midwives and handed down from female family members. These women doctors and midwives treated patients at great risk to themselves especially if they were not able to cure their patients. Lisa See works her magic once again in bringing us behind the forbidden walled fortress of women of society and royalty. From foot binding to serving their sharp tongued mother-in-law to hiding their illness, depression or infertility. It is an amazing story of courage and the desire to better women's lives and one that could have been lost forever had not Lady Tan's secret journals. 
​ 4 1/2 stars