Lady Tan's Circle of Women

Tan Yunxian is a child when her beautiful mother passes away and she is sent to be raised by her paternal grandparents. As her important father travels to work for the imperial dynasty, her grandmother decides to prepare Yunxian to be a female doctor, as she herself is famously known. She loves learning and her grandmother becomes the center of her entire world. Yunxian is devastated when she is eventually matched for marriage and has to leave the familial home. As the women do as they are told and rarely leave the compound, she desperately misses her family and true best friend, Meiling, daughter of the midwife. In the Garden of Fragrant Delights Yunxian is lonely and must conceal her special talents to be the elite wife that her mother-in-law expects. Always yearning for the freedom to care for others while she awaits having the son that is expected of her, Yunxian finds subtle ways to treat the numerous women in their home and teach her daughters the traditions they adhere to. This magnificent work of historical fiction takes the reader to the Ming Dynasty during the 15th century. This novel is about friendship, family and motherhood and shines a light loosely based on a true story of a remarkable female physician practicing Chinese medicine. It is not a quick read but it is beautifully written and a fascinating part of history.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️