“The youngest of three girls in a time when China is undergoing great change, Ailin escapes foot-binding because of her progressive and indulgent father and her own strong spirit. Her big and undeformed feet lead to the end of her engagement to an eligible boy from a good family. Ailin is also educated at home, and then sent to a public school taught by missionaries. There she becomes proficient at English. When her father dies and the chauvinistic Big Uncle becomes the head of the family Ailin escapes becoming a concubine, nun, or wife to a farm laborer by taking a job as a nanny to missionary children. While her employers are rather narrow-minded, and the change in status is hard for the girl, Ailin comes to understand the missionary family’s positive attributes and breaks down the houseboy’s prejudice against her. When the Warners go on furlough to the United States, Ailin goes too. With no servants, she learns much about cooking and housework. When the Warners return to China, Ailin remains in the US. She marries an older Chinese man she met on the boat to the United States. She must work very hard, since her new husband is opening his own restaurant, but she is proud of her accomplishments. Furthermore, bound feet are horrifying to Americans, and Ailin’s “big” feet are not a handicap. Instead they allow her to make her own independent way.
This is a great book for learning history or just enjoying. It introduces a grim topic in an honest but not horrifying way. Ailin is a strong femaile role model. The value of education is emphasized, and the problems of trying to live in two cultures are also introduced.
Highly recommended.
SW
Ailin is a part of a well-to-do, proper Chinese family, so when she rebels against having her feet bound, they are concerned with her future. No respectable family would have their son marry someone with unbound feet. Since Ailin’s family refuses to support her, she finds work as a nanny for an American missionary family and eventually finds happiness in America.
A good story about one girl’s courage and spirit in fighting a cruel and uncalled for tradition.
Highly recommended.
VW
(1999) 154 pages”
