Claudia Lin

Claudia is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. She is the youngest of three children, and her siblings consider her the “favorite” of the family. Her mother and father immigrated to New York City from Taiwan before Claudia was born, and she grows up torn between her parents’ culture and her own American culture. Her parents have a tumultuous marriage, and her father is abusive before he abandons the family altogether. Claudia is a lesbian, but she feels afraid to tell her mother about this, even as an adult, though she does come out at the end of the novel.

Claudia’s favorite thing to do in the world is read mysteries. She majors in English when she goes to college so she can study books, but she does not have a plan for what to do with her degree after she graduates. Her elder, responsible...