Family
The most important theme of the novel is the theme of family. It is most significantly shown in the relationship of Ruth and her mother. They had a strained relationship for the whole of Ruth’s life, but Ruth grows compassionate with her mother’s struggles and, through the bond that the story of Lu Ling’s life creates, gather her own confidence to follow her dreams. The importance of family is further shown in the relationship of Lu Ling and Precious Auntie. Despite being a mother and daughter in secret, their connection is undeniable, and Lu Ling is forever haunted with regret for her cruel decisions. At the end of the novel, Ruth finds the importance of family in her own right, with her boyfriend and daughters that were brought into her life.
Mother-daughter relationship
On a deeper level, the novel explores the complicated mother-daughter relationship and generational trauma. We are introduced to Ruth, who is clearly filled with contempt and anger towards her mother, unable to understand why she was treated the way she was. This, in turn, is reflected in her career - she hides herself by being a ghostwriter, doesn’t have the confidence to put her name to her work. Only after discovering and bonding with her mother through her story, is she able to understand and move forward with her life and come out of hiding.
Traditional cruelty
From Lu Ling’s story, a theme of traditional cruelty can be deduced. Her mother, Precious Auntie, had to love her in hiding because of the cruelty bestowed upon her, and further experience her own daughter’s cruelty as she started to grow up, and see her as less than, as a mere nursemaid. Furthermore, after Precious Auntie’s death, Lu Ling is seen as corrupted, as cursed, a bringer of bad luck, and is cruelly shunned out of her family home into an orphanage and mercy of strangers.
