In seventeenth-century China, three women find themselves emotionally entangled with The Peony Pavilion, a famed opera rumored to cause lovesickness and even death. Among them is Peony, the cloistered daughter of a wealthy scholar who falls under the opera's spell.

As a young girl betrothed to a suitor she has never met, Peony's longings resonate with the lyrics of the opera. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amidst the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe performs scenes from this epic opera—a live spectacle few females have ever seen.

Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Raised to be obedient, she harbors dreams of her own. Her mother opposes her attendance at the production, believing "Unmarried girls should not be seen in public." However, her father ensures proprieties are maintained, allowing the women to watch from behind a screen.

Through the screen's cracks, Peony glimpses an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave, and her heart is immediately stirred. Thus begins Peony's unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow.

Lisa See's haunting novel, based on historical events, transports readers back to a time when the Manchus seized power and the Ming dynasty fell. Steeped in traditions and rituals, the story brings to life the intricate realm of the afterworld—a vividly imagined place where one's soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth.

Peony in Love beautifully explores the many manifestations of love and addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard.