Summary

The Prologue of the novel opens on July 4th of 1950, at an event known as the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Independence Day Picnic and Miss Chinatown Contest (a beauty pageant) in Los Altos, California. Lily Hu was at the picnic with her family, including her parents, her brothers Frankie and Eddie, her Uncle Francis and Aunt Judy, and her friend Shirley Lum. Lily noticed that the contestants, in their bathing suits and high heels, looked very American. They wore red lipstick. One girl had a red mark on her Achilles tendon where her shoe had rubbed against it. Shirley criticized this girl for being too flashy and acting like a Hollywood star. Later, Lily recounted that when one of the girls had been declared the winner, there had been cheers and boos in...