Peony in Love is a romantic book, but it is definitely not “romance.” Peony is a 15-year-old girl of the wealthy Chen family who is coming into the age of settling for an arranged marriage. Things turn when Peony does something out of the ordinary, something that is unusual to Chinese etiquette when she meets a young man. A young man that she constantly looks for and watches in the audience of an opera that girls and women were not even allowed to see to begin with. It is a coming-of-age story, filled with romance, Chinese culture, family and ghost stories, and a bit of social history here and there.
Being a fan of the author’s other book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I was quite disappointed with this one because it wasn’t as good as that one, and didn’t even come close. I wanted to like this book very much, but ended up unsettled. (And not in the good way that some books are able to do)
To be fair, the story is good as well as the writing. It has a lot of believable historical details and Chinese traditions, with a twist of poetic writing by the author. The descriptions are rich and characters were well-focused on. The best thing I think about this novel, is the idea. The main plot.
So it was good, but maybe, it was just not my type. Check it out yourself and let me know if you agree or think otherwise=]
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