The Leftover Woman

“Two people connected by red thread will always be tied together.”

Anthony’s red string bracelet is one of this novel’s key symbols. It represents not only Anthony’s connection to Jasmine but also their shared connection to China’s history and culture. Although both characters move to a country in which assimilation is encouraged, they manage to retain their sense of Chinese identity even as they explore what it means to become American. This sentence, early in the novel, also foreshadows Anthony and Jasmine’s eventual reunion.

“The hairpin was my history, the accumulation of generations of women in my family who had starved and died rather than let it out of my hands.”

The hairpin represents Jasmine’s connection to her family history and traditional Chinese culture. Immigrants like Jasmine are encouraged to assimilate—to leave their traditions behind and adopt American beliefs, practices, and values. Part of Jasmine’s struggle is in learning how to adapt to her new country without entirely leaving the values of her old one behind.

“How could I create a future with Fiona? My daughter. Fiona Whitney. Nicknamed Fifi, so close to me here in New York, and yet so far away.”

This novel explores the heartbreaking consequences of Cross-Cultural Adoption and the Impact of China’s One-Child Policy on Jasmine. The clandestine adoption of her daughter is this narrative’s inciting incident, and Jasmine’s immigration is motivated almost entirely by her desire to make contact with her lost child. The fracturing she feels after having her child taken from her is reflected in Kwok’s use of sentence fragments here, and her uncertainty is embodied by the rhetorical question.

“We’ve taken her away from her family and country. I’d like to hire a Chinese speaking nanny.”

This passage speaks to Rebecca’s and Brandon’s characterization. Brandon, because of his work, feels a deep sense of connection to Chinese culture and history. He wants to provide their daughter with a cultural identity other than the one she inherited when she was adopted into an American family. Rebecca, because she does not feel connected to China, does not feel as strongly as Brandon that Fifi needs to learn Chinese or be immersed in Chinese culture. Later in the novel, it is revealed that Brandon harbors ulterior motives here; he is already trying to hire Jasmine and reunite mother and daughter.

“She resents Lucy, she realizes, this usurper of her place in her daughter’s affections.”

Rebecca’s resentment toward Lucy is one of her primary points of characterization. She does not realize that Lucy is Fifi’s mother, but she can sense the deep connection that the two share and feels intense jealousy each time she observes Fifi interact with Lucy. Rebecca feels shut out of their relationship because Lucy and Fifi are both Chinese and because she is not able to speak Chinese with them or with her husband.

“I was in the beautiful country. I needed to let my past go.”

The Beautiful Country, a common Chinese name for the United States, is a motif within the novel. It helps the author discuss both the benefits and drawbacks of immigration as the United States, while perceived as beautiful by many would-be immigrants, is revealed to be much more complex when they arrive. Life is difficult, and they are often subjected to discrimination and prejudice.

“Once I became a wife, my appearance went from being an asset to a liability.”

This statement, expressed by Jasmine while recollecting the early days of her marriage, speaks to the novel’s interest in gender roles and women’s autonomy. Although prized for her beauty before her marriage, her value shifts after she weds Wen, who views her as a possession that can be taken away from him. It is not until she leaves that Jasmine is able to exercise autonomy and shape her own path.

“Now she wonders, how much of Brandon is real and how much is simply a projection of her own fantasies?”

This passage adds to Rebecca’s characterization. She is a driven, work-oriented individual who puts more of her energy into her professional life than her personal life. Because she has ignored both her husband and her daughter, she is no longer sure that her marriage is healthy. This becomes an additional source of stress for her, and eventually, she becomes preoccupied with problems at home as well as at work.

“Introduced in 1979, the One-Child Policy in China is one of the most restrictive family planning policies in the world.”

The Leftover Woman delves deeply into the impact of China’s one-child policy on individual women and their families. Although its focus remains on its characters, the novel also provides some historical exposition through Brandon’s lecture, contextualizing the narrative in the history of family planning policies in 20th-century China.

“Dawn and I dodged catcalling men and groping hands to reach a smaller bar near the back of the club. It was obvious the customers believed we were all for sale.”

All of Kwok’s books are interested in the politics of gender and sexuality, and The Leftover Woman in particular engages with the experiences of Chinese women and Gender Roles and Women’s Autonomy both in China and in the United States. Jasmine realizes that as a woman, she is valued for her sexuality and her ability to bear children. Although she capitalizes on her beauty to survive, she is profoundly uncomfortable with the gender inequality that such cultural practices speak to.

“We were immigrants. There was no room in our lives for lofty visions of self-fulfillment.”

The experience of Chinese immigrants in the United States is one of this novel’s most important thematic focal points. Jasmine, Anthony, and others must set aside not only their dreams and aspirations but also the aspects of their identity that seem “too Chinese” to the Americans around them. There is a sense in which they must go into “survival mode” to make their way in their new country, and their lives in the United States are a constant struggle.

“Just because Fifi is Chinese doesn’t mean she does Kung Fu.”

The way that bias and stereotype impact immigrants and their children is one of this novel’s key themes. Multiple characters experience prejudice throughout the narrative, and even Rebecca, one of the novel’s protagonists, engages in prejudicial judgments of Asians and Asian Americans. This quote, defending Fifi, does not come from her; it comes from Gina, an Asian American woman. Rebecca’s inability to defend her daughter belies her own biases, as well as her ignorance about how her adopted daughter’s experience differs from her as a white woman.

“Anthony made me feel seen and real. He called me the bravest and cleverest person he knew.”

This passage speaks to Jasmine’s characterization. She has experienced much disrespect in her life, both in her nuclear family and in her marriage. Anthony is one of the few people from whom she has received love and kindness, and their relationship is important to her. He represents an alternative masculinity to what she has experienced with her husband and at Opium, and because of his acceptance, she feels that romance is still possible for her.

“In China I’d seen posters warning girls of the dangers of becoming leftover women that no one wanted.”

In the China of Jasmine’s youth, women are valued for their beauty and ability to bear children. She bristles against the inequality that inheres in this system, but there is no clear way out of the trap that it places her in until she leaves China. The book borrows its title from this sentence, centering this idea in the narrative.

“Each time I returned to Opium, I told myself it was only for that night, and yet the next time I was scheduled, I went again. I did my best to become nothing when I was there: no opinions, no emotions, no shame.”

Jasmine struggles in her work at Opium. Although she is accustomed to being valued for her body, she has never quite reconciled herself to the role of women in her culture. She understands that people who are valued because of the desirability of their bodies are not treated with decency and respect, but she must push these thoughts aside to do her job. The club’s name is also symbolic; the history of the opium trade in China has led to opium imagery being used to perpetuate racist stereotypes about Chinese people. As such, naming the club Opium points to the dehumanization its female employees experience there.

“Do you think because I’m a woman that I am soft?”

This line, spoken by Aunt Glory to Jasmine, helps characterize her as cold, calculating, and manipulative. Although a woman with power and agency, Aunt Glory uses her power to exploit other immigrants. She is a source of stress for Jasmine, and the constant pressure that she puts on her to engage in sex work at the club becomes increasingly difficult to endure.

“Both women and immigrants need to split themselves into different personas and roles.”

This idea, which Rebecca expresses during a conversation with Isabel, reflects the novel’s thematic interest in the way that society shapes and impacts identity for both women and immigrants. Rebecca, Jasmine, and other characters shift from one role to another as they move through their lives, and they also find themselves obscuring or highlighting various aspects of their identities depending on the situation they find themselves in.

“After Rebecca hired me, I tried to tell her my name was Luli, meaning Dewy Jasmine. She said ‘That’s lovely, but I think a more American name might help you assimilate. Let’s just call you Lucy, shall we? That’ll be so much easier for everyone.’”

This passage speaks to Rebecca’s characterization, as well as this novel’s discussion of the politics of gender and race. White and Asian women have markedly different experiences in the narrative, and although they share some aspects of gendered oppression, there is a divide between them. Women such as Rebecca engage in harmful prejudices and anti-Asian bias, and the novel explores the way that white women identify more with their race than their gender, particularly in their interactions with Asian women.

“It wasn’t so much that she wanted to keep me beneath her, but that she had an orderly mind and she wanted me classified. I was staff and I didn’t speak English well, plus I was Chinese.”

This passage speaks to Rebecca’s racism and classism. Rebecca is interested in feminism and women’s rights, but she does not initially look at her own views and biases critically. In truth, she judges Lucy both for her race and her class position and does not see her as a complex, multi-faceted individual.

“We’re both women, and women don’t have it easy in this world. Let’s not stand on opposite sides of the river.”

These lines, spoken by Jasmine, reflect her character’s interest in gender and equality. Although she experiences discrimination and exploitation even at the hands of other Chinese women, she is committed to the idea of supporting other Chinese women and immigrants and does her best to treat women at Opium the way she would like to be treated. She uses the metaphor of a river here to express her desire for solidarity rather than separation.

“Do you think my real mommy remembers that it’s my birthday?”

This novel’s depiction of the politics of adoption is nuanced and asks uncomfortable questions about the ethics of cross-cultural adoption. Fifi’s character not only deals with feelings of loss and abandonment but also notes the difficulty of growing up with parents who do not share her racial identity or cultural background.

“She’s a woman competing in a man’s world, and she can lie down and conform, or she can stand up for herself.”

Kwok’s writing is invested in exposing the way that inequality impacts women, particularly women in immigrant communities. Although this novel depicts the intersection of racism and sexism, it is also deeply committed to the idea of female agency, and its female characters find empowerment and resilience in the face of gender-based discrimination.

“I had enough saved to repay a large portion of my debt and to sustain us for a short while, plus I had the jade pomegranate hair pin as extra insurance.”

Jasmine keeps her jade hairpin throughout her time in the United States until it is time to hand it down to her own daughter, Fifi. A symbol of her Chinese heritage and family’s history, it indicates her continued refusal to assimilate, even in the face of tremendous pressure from people such as Rebecca.