The sisters' story is interrelated with critical historical events, famous people, and important places-the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Shanghai, internment at Angel Island, Los Angeles Chinatown, Hollywood, World War II, the Chinese Exclusion Act, McCarthyism, etc. America's mistreatment of Chinese immigrants is stressed in both memoir and novel. In On Gold Mountain she objectively placed 100 years of her Chinese family history in the context of the daunting challenges Chinese immigrants faced in coming to America in search of Gold Mountain. Here See treats Chinese immigration from a personal view through Pearl's narration. Shanghai Girls is divided into three parts: Fate, Fortune, and Destiny. The sequel, Dreams of Joy, was released May 31, 2011.

The novel received an Honorable Mention from the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. The novel is set between 1937–57 and matches Parts IV and V of the memoir. This work marks a return to many of the themes the author addressed in her first major work, On Gold Mountain, a memoir of her family's history. It centers on the complex relationship between two sisters, Pearl and May, as they go through great pain and suffering in leaving war-torn Shanghai, and try to adjust to the difficult roles of wives in arranged marriages and of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. Shanghai Girls is a 2009 novel by Lisa See.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See