In a stylized vision of tenth-century Imperial China, the brilliant concubine Yao falls into an obsessive infatuation with her maid. But the feeling isn’t mutual, and because of this unrequited love, disaster ensues throughout the entire court. Doomed to degradation and obscurity, a eunuch witnesses the rivalry between the two mistresses and their struggle to find power, love, and fame.
The Lily-Footed Woman is a powerful story about barbaric standards of beauty and the ways in which women participate in their own oppression.
