Over the centuries every culture has its own version of "perfection" and refinement that sets people (women, mostly) apart from their counter parts. Foot binding in China was equated with elitism and gave girls an opportunity to marry a higher class man. The brutality of it was expected in the same way corsets were used in Victorian England to make the waists look tinier. Over the time, the requirements for refinements have changed but haven't completely disappeared. Women to this day are subjected to body type slurs when the new norms of perfection aren't met by them. 
 Lily is destined for something out of the ordinary and that happens to be being "old same" with a girl from upper class by the name Snow flower. The similar tempered girls become fast friends the moment they meet and promise to share everything for the rest of their lives. This story is gentle reveal of relationship between two women who met when they were just girls and made a contract to be soul-friends for the rest of their lives. They use "nu shu" to communicate, a language that's exclusively used by women for communications such as these. 
 Lisa See writes an intimate tell-all. Lily's passage to womanhood during the process of foot binding is done with dignity; Lily accepts her fate as a necessity for progression in her life irrespective of her personal feelings about the subject matter. Lily adores Snow Flower from the very beginning though the class difference between the two keep bothering her. In a society where role of a woman was reduced to the one that produced sons and take care of the household, the system of "old-sames" offered companionship and a sisterhood that formed an emotional support system. 
 As a character Lily is flawed; she is selfish, judges her soul sister too harshly and can be overtly acerbic. Narration suffers when Lily's inner monologue becomes a distraction. The plot moves rather quickly in the beginning - their childhood days and enjoys a steady pace through the rest. Its a depressing story but it does warrant at least one honest read. 
 When we were young and doing the things children did, certain body type templates crept into our brains without our knowledge. We linger a moment longer in front of the mirror and make a mental note of statistics made by different body parts. We smoothen our skirts, readjust our dupattas and 
 straighten our pants with our eyes constantly judging.