Lisa See at a Glance

Full Name: Lisa See

Pronunciation: LEE-suh SEE

Born: February 18, 1955

Nationality: United States

Education:

• Loyola Marymount University (BA, English and Psychology)

Genres:

• Historical fiction
• Mystery

Biography & Background

Lisa See Biography

Of both Chinese and Caucasian ancestry, Lisa See spent most of her childhood in Los Angeles with her Cantonese-speaking family, and she often credits her multicultural background for her unique perspective on the world. Her great-great grandfather came to the United States from China to work on the railroad, and her great-grandfather, Fong See, became a dominant figure in Los Angeles Chinatown. Her debut novel, On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), traces the story of her great-grandfather’s life. It became a New York Times bestseller and was later adapted into an opera, for which Lisa See wrote the libretto.

Much of See’s work explores the nuances of female bonds and friendships, and she engages in long-term, intense research before writing each new book, seeing this as the most important and engaging part of the creative process. Over the years, she has written a range of Chinese-themed novels such as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane (2017), and most recently, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women (2023).