Lily is the daughter of a humble farmer, and to her family she is just another expensive mouth to feed. Then the local matchmaker delivers startling news: if Lilys feet are bound properly, they will be flawless. In nineteenth-century China, where a womans eligibility is judged by the shape and size of her feet, this is extraordinary good luck. Lily now has the power to make a good marriage and change the fortunes of her family. To prepare for her new life, she must undergo the agonies of footbinding, learn nu shu, the famed secret womens writing, and make a very special friend, Snow Flower. But a bitter reversal of fortune is about to change everything.