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 Lily`s feet are bound properly, they will be flawless. In nineteenth-century China, where a woman`s 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 women`s writing, and make a very special friend, Snow Flower. But a bitter reversal of fortune is about to change everything.