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Spring Moon by Bette Bao Lord.Spring Moon is a big and engrossing novel, the literary equivalent of a rich, indulgent dessert. Spanning five generations of a Chinese family, the book illuminates the social and political upheavals of late nineteenth- and twentieth-century China through its focus on Spring Moon, the cherished, if headstrong daughter of the wealthy and powerful house of Chang. Spring Moon's feet are bound when she is seven, and when she screams in pain she is told "'It is for your own good, child... No matter how beautiful, how rich, how filial, no man will marry feet that flop like a yellow pike." But although she is part of a household that continues the old traditions, Spring Moon is determined to learn to read and soon becomes the favorite of her uncle, who once studied in America. The love that develops between them and continues despite their marriages to others threatens many of the traditions and codes of honor that are the foundation of the house of Chang. Their affair raises in microcosm many of the ethical controversies faced by a changing China, and as the generations pass, as large and illustrious households disappear, as a mother's secret and personal transgressions are replaced by her daughter's open rebellion and revolutionary fervor, we witness the immense changes in China on both an intimate and grand scale.