Publisher's Synopsis
Nearly a century ago, deep in the centre of the Forbidden City, China's last emperor reigned from his dragon throne. Although he was only a boy, the imperial decrees issued in his name were shouted in every corner of the country, binding his subjects with the stout ropes of custom and regulations. Every man had to shave his head and wear a single pigtail to symbolize his submission to the boy, and every woman was second in importance, even in her own family. She was called to obey her father and brothers as a young girl. She was certainly not allowed to attend school.
Into this world, in a village in the lower reaches of the Yangtze river, White Lily was born. She had a happy childhood running, playing and laughing until, at age four-and-a-half, she was deemed grown up enough to have her feet bound. Unwilling to suffer the loss of mobility, not to mention the pain, White Lily enlists her older brother in a plan clever enough to convince their father to defy tradition and allow White Lily's feet and mind to grow.
