Lily in the Snow by Yan-Li

Women’s Press, January 2010

Review by Georgia Ann Banks-Martin

A Different type of Woman

Before immigrating from Beijing to Canada, Yan Li worked as an instructor, translator and journalist. In her latest novel, ‘Lily in the Snow’, it is obvious that these early life experiences have inspired her writing. The novel focuses on the life of a young mother named Lily, who has left her native China to live in Canada. Upon her arrival, Canada unfolds like a roll of duck canvas before her and her son, who is referred to only as “Baby”. The culture feels formless to her; there is no oppressive government forcing cultural or social policy upon its people. Instead, what greets Lily is a university where she can enroll without anyone asking invasive questions, a community of Chinese people who for various reasons have also taken-up residence in Canada, and an unrelenting Christian Church that is trying to convert as many new immigrants as possible.

Li’s depiction of Lily, as she struggles to reinvent herself in this world, is almost hyper-real. Lily is a young woman and an experienced journalist, but she finds that her advanced education is worth little in her new country. Her job options include working as a maid in a private home, a maid in a hotel, a factory worker, or a secretary in a failing lawyer’s office. In addition, Lily’s critical and overbearing mother soon follows her, in part to see if Lily’s life is really better and, in part, to find herself. Together, the two of them embark on a life together.

Along the way, we meet other women who underscore the life that Lily does not want for herself – Mrs. Rice, who spends her days teaching the word of God and visiting those whom she might be able to convert; Camellia, who is often beaten by her husband, but who will not divorce him due to pressure from the church; and a woman Lily calls “Madam Jewelry”, who speaks in tongues and finds that this conflicts with church teachings.

In the end, all of these women, even Lily’s mother, are characters who are unable to write their own scripts. Lily doesn’t want to become like any of them. Yan Li’s depiction of Lily’s life is so well done that readers immediately feel like they know Lily and the other women of her community. Through them, the stories of women we all know, regardless of ethnicity, are given voice. ‘Lily in the Snow’ is a lyrical, funny and real snapshot of the strength and commitment that is required to become a fully self-aware and individualized woman.

Yan Li is the director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Waterloo and the coordinator of the Chinese Language Program at Renison University College, both of which are located in Ontario, Canada. Li’s other published works include her first novel written in English, ‘Daughters of the Red Land’ and her other novels – ‘Married to the West Wind’, ‘Red Duckweed’, and ‘The Lambs of Mapleton’ – all of which are written in Chinese.