Prologue - Chapter 1

PROLOGUE - CHAPTER 1  

Many characters are mentioned in this novel. The complexity of this novel is what makes it a good read. It takes a second and third reading before one can fully figure out who they are and their tumultuous relationship with one another. The summary of the prologue to chapter 1 is split into four parts. Here they are:

In 1892 Wong Gwei Chang, the protagonist, is undergoing emotional trauma. He is on a bone-searching expedition.  He was chosen because of his physique by the Benevolent Associations. He meets an Indian girl named Kelora Chen and her father, Chen Gwok Fai, during his expedition.  Chen Gwok Fai and Kelora Chen help Gwei Chang get use to his new environment and also support him by helping him search for bones. Gwei begins to fall in love with Kelora.

In 1986 Kae Ying Woo is disappointed because she is let down by her family. She reminisces about her family history. She has been told that it is important to keep a family together. It was Kae Ying Woo's turn to have her child, she was never told how hard it was to give birth. She gives birth to a baby boy, Robert Man Jook Lee. Kae Ying Woo's mother tells her about her great-grandmother, Lee Mui Lan.

Lee Mui Lan worked at the Disappearing Moon Cafe. She had a husband named Wong Gwei Chang, but they had poor communication with each other. Lee Mui Lan wants her son Wong Choy Fuk to have a child with her daughter in law, Chan Fong Mei. She wants them to have the child for the Wong family. Kae Ying Woo is with her roommate , Hermia Chow, who is an overseas chinese from Switzerland. Kae Ying Woo and Hermia have conversations and interactions with each other. Kae Ying Woo shows Hermia letters her grandmother, Chan Fong Mei, had wrote about her life in Canada.

Chan Fong Mei is feeling pressured by her mother in law because she and her husband, Wong Choy Fuk, still do not have children together. Halfway through the chapter, Chan Fong Mei hollers at Ting An, a friend and a worker in the cafe.

The struggles experienced by the early Chinese migrants are illustrated here. The conflict between the old and young Chinese generation is also highlighted in this novel.