the binding chair

the binding chair doesn't just refer to little chinese women with pretty, dainty feet wearing silk slippers... it describes the whole painful process of binding feet, through the eyes ( or rather, feet ) of mayli. thats just for the beginning. the story goes on to describe mayli's life in china, how she's married off early via an arranged marriage.... tries to go back to her family after the uncaring cruelty inflicted by her husband ( little does she know, all decked up in her bridal finery, that she is the heartless guys Fourth wife ) but of course, as families go, is Not met with outstretched arms by her mama or grandmama, so... mayli takes off after much planning... and after scouting china ( on d back of a slave... as with bound feet, she's incapable of even running away on her own two feet.... gotta be carried around ala running away! )... ends up in the infamous profession of all time.. yup she sells her body. mind you, only to whites... no chinese, after all thats done to her... duh... do you think she wants to see anymore chinese men, no way hoozay! even a girl down in the dumps has some choices, eh?
well... there comes her turning point.. not forgetting some heartache.. like an unwanted pregnancy... well the turning point is that this red headed white guy falls in love with her, feet and all, ( feet especially! the whole point, or rather, mayli's point, is that he doesn't see her as any different because of them! ) so well... they marry... and though she can't carry a child all the way through, she's been scarred.. her 'daughter' as close to her heart as can be, is her niece.
the story is told both through mayli's and her nieces points of view.... makes for interesting storytelling, as it actually starts with the nieces growing pains through childhood, boarding school, and how her infamous chinese aunt ( especially in those days, a century or two ago! ) influences her life, much to her mom's chagrin.
another thing, mayli is astonishingly beautiful! yup, even when she's fifty over! so... all in all... with this little summary.... hmmm too much to write already! maybe you'd like to read this book sometime, which has been grouped in a simlilar category as 'memoirs of a geisha'.