In China a woman is nothing. Thus begins the saga of a woman born at theturn of the century to a welltodo highly respected Chinese family a womanwho continually... » 

In China a woman is nothing. Thus begins the saga of a woman born at theturn of the century to a welltodo highly respected Chinese family a womanwho continually defied the expectations of her family and the traditions of herculture. Growing up in the perilous years between the fall of the last emperorand the Communist Revolution Chang Yuis life is marked by a series ofrebellions her refusal as a child to let her mother bind her feet herscandalous divorce and her rise to Vice President of Chinas first womensbank in her later years. In the alternating voices of two generations thisdual memoir brings together a deeply textured portrait of a womans life inChina with the very American story of Yuis brilliant and assimilatedgrandniece struggling with her own search for identity and belonging. Writtenin pitchperfect prose and alive with detail Bound Feet and Western Dress isthe story of independent women struggling to emerge from centuries of customsand duty. «