Part One: The Tiger Leaps: Chapters 4 - 6 Summary

Pearl: On the plane chasing after Joy, Pearl considers how her life has changed so drastically in the past few days. Her husband Sam killed himself only a few days ago, and now her daughter has runaway to China. Pearl hasn't been back to China since she escaped from Shanghai as a teenager with her sister May. Although she knows a widowed woman should never be with another man and should spend the rest of her life In mourning, she wonders if she will find Z.G. in China, Joy's birth father. Pearl's relationship with the artist is complicated. They met when Z.G. painted her portrait for propaganda posters, and she fell in love with him. Z.G. only had eyes for May, however, and May loved him back. Their...