Lily is the daughter of a humble farmer, and to her family she is just

another expensive mouth to feed. Then the local matchmaker delivers

startling news: if Lily's feet are bound properly, they will be

flawless. In nineteenth-century China, where a woman's eligibility is

judged by the shape and size of her feet, this is extraordinary good

luck. Lily now has the power to make a good marriage and change the

fortunes of her family. To prepare for her new life, she must undergo

the agonies of footbinding, learn nu shu, the famed secret

women's writing, and make a very special friend, Snow Flower. But a

bitter reversal of fortune is about to change everything.