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Chapter 13 Summary: Grace Meets Joseph Hu Twenty Years Earlier

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Chapter 13 jumps back twenty years to the first meeting between Grace Wing and Joseph Hu at a Chinese Presbyterian church in San Francisco. Grace, a twenty‑two‑year‑old nursing student, notices Joseph across the fellowship hall and is struck by his confident, Westernized appearance. Reverend Hubbard introduces them, and Mrs. B. Y. Woo quickly takes charge of the conversation, probing Joseph about his family, education, and finances. Joseph reveals he is a medical student from Shanghai, supported by a Presbyterian mission scholarship, with his tuition privately funded—signs of a well‑off family. After Mrs. Woo leaves, Grace and Joseph talk alone. She learns he plans to return to China to train doctors; he asks about her family’s store in Santa Barbara and her future plans. Grace finds him fascinating, but later, back at her dormitory, she reads a sensational Sunday Magazine article about two rival Shanghai actresses. The piece is filled with racist and exoticizing stereotypes, including the claim that Chinese people do not kiss. Embarrassed, she buries the article and reflects on her own identity, imagining herself beside a Dr. Joseph Hu in a modern Chinese hospital. She feels a pang of patriotism—not for America, but for China.

Key Events

  • Grace first sees Joseph Hu at the church fellowship hall and is attracted to his Clark Gable–like hair and gold signet ring.
  • Reverend Hubbard introduces Grace and Mrs. Woo to Joseph, noting both are in medical fields.
  • Mrs. Woo interrogates Joseph about his family background, scholarship status, and future plans.
  • After Mrs. Woo leaves, Grace and Joseph converse alone about their families, nursing school, and potential careers in China.
  • Back in her dormitory, Grace reads a lurid Sunday Magazine article about Shanghai actresses that exoticizes Chinese customs and suggests Chinese people don’t kiss.
  • She hides the article, feeling shame and anger at the sensationalism.
  • Grace daydreams about working alongside Joseph in a modern Chinese hospital and experiences a new sense of patriotism for China.

Character Development

  • Grace Wing: This chapter reveals Grace’s youth and inexperience. She is observant (noticing Joseph’s crumb) and self‑conscious about her family’s humble store. Her curiosity about Joseph mixes with admiration and a tinge of insecurity. Her reaction to the racist magazine article shows her growing awareness of how white America exoticizes Chinese people, and her final daydream indicates a longing to connect with a homeland she has never visited.
  • Joseph Hu: Introduced as charming, well‑spoken, and earnest. He is polite under Mrs. Woo’s probing and genuinely interested in Grace’s aspirations. His goal to train Chinese doctors suggests a sense of duty and cultural pride.
  • Mrs. B. Y. Woo: Acts as a matchmaker, subtly praising Grace and pressing Joseph for details about his background. Her behavior reflects the tight‑knit communal scrutiny common in immigrant churches.
  • Reverend Hubbard: A peripheral figure who facilitates the introduction, representing the bridge between the white Presbyterian mission and the Chinese congregation.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • The Gaze and Spectacle: The Sunday Magazine article embodies the white male gaze, framing Chinese actresses as exotic and aberrant. Grace’s disgust mirrors the novel’s broader critique of how queerness and race are commodified by outsiders.
  • Cultural Displacement and Longing: Grace’s imagined future in China—a hospital staffed by Western‑trained Chinese professionals—reveals her desire to belong somewhere that feels authentically hers, contrasting with her everyday life in America.
  • Respectability vs. Desire: The contrast between Joseph’s dignified manner and the “scandalous” Shanghai actresses highlights the tension between respectable Chinese identity (upheld by the church) and forbidden desire (hinted at by the article’s mention of kissing, which resonates with the novel’s queer themes).
  • The Archive / Memory: This flashback functions as an origin story for Grace and Joseph’s relationship, showing how their meeting laid the groundwork for the family dynamics that shape Lily’s life in the main timeline.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 13 provides essential backstory for Grace and Joseph, the parents of protagonist Lily. It establishes Grace as a young woman caught between American respectability and a growing sense of Chinese identity. Her encounter with Joseph introduces the themes of cross‑cultural romance and the sacrifices made for family and career that will ripple through Lily’s own story. The chapter also deepens the novel’s exploration of racial stereotypes and the objectification of Chinese women, foreshadowing the pressures Lily will face as a queer Chinese American teen. Without this flashback, readers would miss the emotional and historical roots of the Hu family’s ambitions and tensions.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Question: How does Grace’s reaction to the Sunday Magazine article reveal her internal conflict about her identity? Answer: Grace is initially drawn to the article because it mentions Shanghai, the city Joseph comes from. But as she reads the racist, exoticizing descriptions—especially the claim that Chinese people “make love with their hands” rather than kiss—she feels embarrassed and ashamed. She buries the article, worried about being seen reading it. Her shifting emotions—curiosity, disgust, shame—indicate she is caught between wanting to understand Chinese culture on her own terms and rejecting the demeaning stereotypes imposed by white America. This mirrors her later daydream of serving China as a nurse, suggesting she is searching for a more authentic connection.

  2. Question: What does Grace mean when she says she feels “patriotism, but not for America” at the end of the chapter? Answer: Grace has never visited China, but her conversation with Joseph—who speaks passionately about returning to train doctors—plants a vision of a modern, dignified China that contrasts with the exoticized image in the magazine. Her patriotism is not for the United States, where Chinese people are often marginalized, but for an idealized homeland where she imagines she could belong and contribute. This feeling is complicated by her limited knowledge of China’s political reality, but it marks a shift in her self‑understanding: she begins to see herself as part of a larger Chinese diaspora.

  3. Question: How does Mrs. Woo’s interrogation of Joseph function in the scene? Answer: Mrs. Woo’s questions about Joseph’s family, scholarship, and finances serve multiple purposes. On the surface, they reflect the community’s scrutiny of newcomers, especially eligible bachelors. But she is also performing a subtle matchmaking role, touting Grace’s achievements to Joseph and creating an opportunity for them to talk alone. Mrs. Woo embodies the communal values of the Chinese church, where marriages are often arranged or encouraged. Her behavior shows that even in a modern American city, traditional expectations about courtship and social standing persist.

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