Chapter 12: Big Sister's Wedding Summary and Analysis

Niang had arranged for Big Sister to meet Samuel Sung, the son of a local physician. She agreed to marry him although she was only seventeen and he was thirty-one. Adeline feared that Niang would do the same thing to her. She vowed to run away if she was ever being forced into an arranged marriage. Wedding gifts arrived weeks before the wedding. Niang went through them, keeping the best ones for herself.

The lavish wedding was attended by 500 guests and featured two professional radio comedians and a master of ceremonies. Adeline had nothing new to wear and her brothers were forced to have fresh haircuts and wear long traditional robes. Other guests openly ridiculed the boys. Grandaunt had sent a jade pendant to Big Sister as a wedding gift. Aunt Baba warned Big Sister...