Discuss the biggest lies lurking in the novel’s storylines. Which revelations surprised you the most? What is at the heart of these lies? Who or what is being served by such carefully guarded falsehoods? Would it have been less painful to learn to live with the truth?
The lie that surprised me the most was discovering Thomas Tong wasn’t Eden’s father. The promise Thomas made to Eden’s mother didn’t necessarily hold up as a legitimate reason to hide the truth, in my opinion.
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Eden’s mother being alive and showing up in the medical clinic in Texas was the twist I didn’t see coming. No doubt she faked her death to protect her family from shame and additional loss of face - so important in the Chinese culture. Had she had the baby in China both mother and especially, a daughter would have been scorned and likely disowned by her Chinese family. While their life was likely difficult on their own (until Thomas), I would assume it was better than life in Hong Kong after the birth.
So true about what might have happened had Eden been born in China. Reminded me of the book Daughters of Shandong.
I agree. It is a theme that shows up in many mixed ethnicity books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Daughters of Shandong was such a good book.
The most surprising was that Henry Tong was Eden’s real father and Rene Tan (alias Roger Gao) her uncle. Interesting this same uncle was the one that caused Eden’s real father’s death. Love was at the heart of these lies especially her mother’s (Mary) desire to keep Eden safe. I think the truth would have been devastating if Eden had to grow up with this knowledge. She was able to accept it all later as we learned in the book.
I was most surprised by who was Eden’s father. Eden’s mother did it because of the love for her daughter.
Yes, I agree! Finding out that Henry Tong was Eden’s father and Rene Tan was actually Roger were the biggest surprises for me. I did have to reread that beginning section about Henry’s death a few times as I progressed through the book, trying to figure out connections.