Great read, really enjoyed this one!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access this book in exchange for my review.

TW: death of a child, death, xenophobia, foot binding

“I won’t take unnecessary risks. As to being safe, who can be safe nowadays? Besides, safe is boring, safe is not doing anything and that’s not me. You cannot ask me to be less than who I am”.

What an incredibly beautiful historical fiction centred around China-England dynamics during a time of contention and distrust. Whilst the politics are front and centre, the true action is around the questions of morality and the varied treatment of men vs women - explored in part by the two protagonists regular of dressing across genders.

“How can we call ours a civilised country when we only educate our boys? It is surely a crime that only the rich can afford for their women to learn to read and write”.

For me though, the messy, entwined love peppered throughout the story, between several people of various genders, status and race spoke volumes. The way each relationship, or lack thereof, were fleshed out, whilst simultaneously never explored through to completion, allowing the reader to contemplate the end result at story end. The sheer depth and variety of complex emotions explored by the characters against the backdrop of impending war, a changing world and the pressures of society can not be understated, and the portrayal of the various types of love a person can experience are underrated.

“The Chinese word for soul mate: zhi yin - someone who knows truly the other’s voice”

Thank you to Netgalley for the Arc.

I struggled quite a bit with reading The Good Women of Fudi, in that the point of view changes were at times very jarring with information between swapping being referred to before we the reader actually get to learn about the event in question. The book has an interesting premise, however I personally didn't enjoy due to the jarring POV changes, but if you like that kind of thing combined with a 20th century historical set romances then this book is probably for you...

I enjoyed this book a lot. I have to say, I requested it because of it’s gay themes and the fact that there were women with swords. The swords let me down a bit. I felt there could have been more sword fighting since two of the women were skilled in it, but the rest didn’t let me down, so I’ll forgive them.

I liked the chaotic nature of the romances in this book. It felt like everyone was in love with a different person. I did feel like it could all be resolved by them getting together in one big polyamorous quad, but alas, it was not to be. It was nice to see something that wasn’t simple though. It felt a bit different and while I was unhappy that there was no specified gay relationship in there, there was plenty of gay yearning and some subtext so that made me feel better.

I liked the tale of the snakes and the pagoda, it was a nice symbol to have with each character taking a different role, though the events of the book played out fairly differently from the snake story, there were still touchstones to bring it back.

I would definitely like to be someone as formidable as Wu Fang.

The Good Women of Fudi is a character-driven historical novel which, ultimately, fails to have characters compelling enough to drive it at all. Neither, therefore, does it have much of a plot. In fact, does it have much of anything going for it? Hard to say.

The central issue here I think is that this is a book that wants to rely on a love square for its plot, with nothing to really cement why you should care about that. The characters are flimsy, with only glimpses of something that could be depth. Relationships and events come out of seemingly nowhere, with little to no basis. This is a book that feels shallow in every aspect.

That should probably be evident from the fact that I wrote in my notes that it’s a book which barely feels grounded in the era it’s supposedly set in. The blurb says that it’s set in China during the aftermath of the Opium Wars and, sure, you can mostly tell that, but (and YMMV here!) it’s not a book with a lot of depth to the worldbuilding. It’s more light-touch, the odd nudge in a certain direction. Now I’m willing to accept this one is a me thing because I want my historical fiction to be dense. Especially if it’s character-driven. The more plot there is, the less I’m concerned about that, but character-driven pairs best with dense worldbuilding to me and this did not deliver.

That lack of depth was clearly catching, as I mentioned a little earlier. See, this is why I think character-driven plus dense worlds works best because building a world that thoroughly almost forces you to build the characters equally thoroughly. So they become compelling and captivating simply by association (Francis Spufford is a good example of this for me, but he’s also helped by a very distinctive narrative voice — another thing this book lacked). I wouldn’t say these characters were all of them flat and uninspiring, because I did actually like Wu Fang and Charles’s narratives somewhat. Jiali, on the other hand, whom all of the other characters found themselves in love with at some point or other, was just… so bland. If I’m meant to believe that all of this love square mess comes about because of a single girl, she has got to be more interesting than this. I’m begging you.

There’s also another reason the love square didn’t work for me (beyond my desire to have Wu Fang pair off with Jiali and Charles with Yanbu) and that was this: firstly, Charles’s attraction for Jiali comes out of nowhere as I said, but secondly, there’s its juxtaposition with the same gender relationships (or, let’s call them simply attraction, since nothing really comes of them). Jiali and Charles get to kiss and have sex. The same gender dyads get to have vagueness and the idea that it’s something more pure than just physical attraction. As in: “It is nothing physical, Charles is assured of that, indeed any thought of physical intimacy almost degrades it. It is above physical, it is something pure and lofty.” Now, sure, this may have been a period typical attitude (for multiple reasons, not least the illegality of the act in the case of Charles and Yanbu), but this is a modern book. This is a book that’s relegated the same gender attraction to yearning from afar that’ll never go anywhere, but don’t worry! It’s pure! It’s not dirty! (Hey, maybe I’m reading too much into it! Probably this was nowhere near its intention, but this is how it came across.) Not to mention, by the end, Yanbu has died and Wu Fang has sacrificed herself so that Charles and Jiali can ride off into the sunset for a happy ending. I wouldn’t call this bury your gays because obviously a. Charles is still alive, and b. Wu Fang is technically alive at the end still (even if Yanbu isn’t). But the sacrifice of any gay possibility in service of a “heterosexual” ending (yes, again, Charles is not, that’s why the scare quotes), didn’t feel great.

So, in the end, I get the distinct feeling I could have missed out on this one and not actually missed out on much at all.

One of the reasons I enjoy reading historical fiction is that it allows me to gain knowledge about historical time periods through captivating stories and "The Good Women of Fudi" does just that.
Although the history period, the tension and conflicts were gripping, I found the excessive jumping narration hard to keep track of.

Imperial China following the aftermath of the opium wars.
The story of two women Wu fang and Jiali there lives and loves lost and gained.
Really liked the idea of this book but it fell flat in places.

"I found the history of the period fascinating, particularly the conflict and rising tensions between the different Chinese factions. On the one hand, there were the reformers who looked outward to Japan's modernist practices and ideas. On the other hand, the traditionalists were ruling Manchus, where spiritualism, religion, and family values intertwined in a complicated way. I also found the attitudes towards foreigners, such as the English, intriguing, and appreciated seeing things through Edward's eyes as he became more and more fascinated with Fudi's culture and inhabitants.

Throughout the book, Wu Fang's gender identity is explored but never directly explained, just like the complicated physical and emotional relationship between Wu Fang and Jiali, Edward and Yanbu. The study of love, gender, and sexuality in their many fluid forms was complex, and I was swept along with it."

This book explores the lives and loves of two women in Fudi, China in the early 20th century. Though this was an interesting premise, and there were some engaging scenes dotted throughout the story, the overall execution fell flat for me.

I think my main issue is with the writing style. The narrative jumps around a lot, often feeling like it abruptly cuts from one scene to the other, and the swaps in POV sometimes felt like head hopping. There was also a strange habit of mentioning events that had happened inbetween scenes like the reader should know what was being referenced, despite not being told yet.

All of this made it difficult for me to actually get a good sense of any of the main characters. It also felt like we were often held at arm's length from them, never truly being shown what drove them or their actions. For example, Wu Fang is involved with revolutionary action, but we are never shown nor told what it is she is doing or why. Another example is Jiala and Charles' relationship - I never felt their connection, we weren't shown them becoming closer or falling for each other, it felt like the book had declared they were in love so they were.

This also has an open ending which I didn't particularly like as it felt a bit abrupt, like it stopped halfway through the climax of the book.

Overall, whilst I think this could still potentially be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the premise, it wasn't for me.

I enjoyed every minute of this! It was beautifully written and the characters were all well fleshed out and believable. My favourite was Wu Fang, though I think I would have loved Jiali just as much before her marriage. The story was understated but dramatic and it kept me so gripped that I was shocked when it ended! A wonderful story and a joy to read.

I thought this was a fantastic book, I had such a great time getting to know such a queer facet to China through the cast of the Good Women of Fudi, but I'm reeling at the ending -- is that a cliffhanger? Or is the story complete? I would really appreciate an indication from the blurb one way or another to manage the expectations better.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

It’s the early twentieth century in China and there’s change afoot. The western nations are sometimes helpful, such as building hospitals and educational facilities, and sometimes not such as firing cannons on said educational facilities. In this confused world, our two female protagonists must make their way.

The China they find themselves in has very rigid ideas about what women can and can’t do. Wu Fang wants to be a surgeon - this is a male only thing so she dresses as a western man and carries the act off so convincingly that she can train in medicine in Japan and be mistaken for a man.

Whilst Wu Fang’s been away in Japan, her best friend, Jiali, has gone and done the thing they swore they would never do - marry.

Also while in Japan, Wu Fang’s got involved in some radical politics aimed at rapidly modernising China. The ideas seemed noble when in Japan. The on-the-ground actions in China are rather murkier.

How will the friendship between these two women cope with the addition of Jiali’s husband? And what will happen when the new colleague of Jiali’s husband meets both Jiali and Wu Fang? And how will the swiftly changing politics of the era impact their lives?

An interesting read as to how some women may have navigated the strict gender roles in the past. The ending is a cliff-hanger. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

'The fate of all women does not have to be ours.’

The Good Women of Fudi is set in Imperial China after the Opium Wars and follows two friends, Jiali and Wu Fang. The two women have grown up with wealth and are both seriously accomplished. Jiali is a proclaimed poet and swordswoman, and Wu Fang is attending medical school in Japan - to potentially become the first Chinese surgeon.

At the outset of the story, we join Wu Fang on their boat journey back to Fudi from Japan where she meets English Edward, who mistakes them for a Japanese man.

Edward is travelling to join the Fudi Naval College having recently lost his wife, and his and Wu Fang's lives continue to entwine when he realises his closest Chinese colleague Yanbu is Jiali's new husband.

I was really interested in the history of the period, especially the conflict and rising tensions between the differing Chinese factions - the reformers looking outward to Japan's modernist practices and ideas or the traditionalist ruling Manchus and how spiritualism, religion and family weaves a complicated set of values and ideas. I found the suffering attitudes towards the Ocean People (foreigners like the English) really interesting too and was grateful to see things through Edward's eyes as he became more and more fascinated with Fudi's culture and inhabitants.

Wu Fang's gender identity is explored throughout the book but never directly explained, which is the same for the complicated physical and emotional relationship between Wu Fang and Jiali, Edward and Yanbu. I was really swept along with the complicated study of love, gender and sexuality in it's many fluid forms.

My only gripe is that the book ended on a massive cliffhanger - and I've no idea if the book is a series!