Culture

The novel explores the positive and negative aspects that come with being an Asian American living in New York City. Claudia is the narrator and protagonist of the novel, and, although she was born in New York City, Claudia’s parents and siblings were all born in Taiwan, and the rest of her extended family still lives in Taiwan. She considers herself an American through-and-through because of where she was raised, but she also feels a deep affinity to her Asian roots, and so she is often caught between the two cultures that she loves.

Claudia loves her Asian heritage and celebrates her culture throughout the novel. Her favorite literary detective is the wuxia character Inspector Yuan from a series she and her mother used to read when she was a child, she loves her family and the traditions that they keep, and she loves the...