Departures and Promises

In 1988, Lina and Wei depart Shanghai for America, leaving behind not just their homeland but also unresolved feelings and promises. Lina's nostalgia and anxiety are palpable as she boards the plane, haunted by memories of Qiang, Wei's brother, and the life she might have had. The journey is not just physical but emotional, marking the beginning of a new chapter that will be shaped by the promises and secrets they carry with them.

Housekeepers and Accusations

In 2010 Shanghai, Sunny, a migrant housekeeper, navigates the complex social hierarchy of Lanson Suites, where accusations of theft are common and trust is scarce. Her partnership with the older, world-weary Rose is both a lifeline and a source of tension. When a bracelet goes missing from the Zhen family's apartment, suspicion falls on the staff, exposing the vulnerability and precariousness of those who serve the city's elite.

Expatriate Lives Unpacked

Lina, now a taitai (lady of leisure) in Shanghai, struggles with the emptiness of privilege and the loss of purpose after leaving her teaching job in America. Her days are filled with social rituals among other expatriate wives, shopping, and longing for her daughter Karen, who is away at school. The return to China has not brought the sense of home she expected, and her marriage to Wei is strained by unspoken resentments and the ghosts of the past.

The Bracelet Disappears

The disappearance of Lina's African ivory bracelet, a sentimental link to her youth and Qiang, triggers suspicion and gossip among the expat community. Sunny, the housekeeper, is offered a new job as the Zhens' personal ayi, but the promotion comes with the risk of alienating her friend Rose and being further entangled in the family's secrets. The bracelet becomes a symbol of loss, longing, and the invisible boundaries between classes.

Arranged Futures, Hidden Pasts

Lina's marriage to Wei was arranged as a repayment of a mysterious debt between their fathers, forged during the upheavals of Maoist China. As a teenager, Lina is drawn to Qiang, the wild younger brother, whose charisma and pain hint at deeper family secrets. The narrative weaves between past and present, revealing how personal choices are constrained by history, obligation, and the desire for freedom.

Brothers Reunited

After decades of silence, Qiang reappears in Shanghai, invited by a chance sighting of Wei on a reality TV show. The reunion is fraught with tension, as old rivalries and unresolved guilt surface. Qiang's presence unsettles the family, especially Lina, who is forced to confront her feelings for him and the choices that have defined her life.

Sunny's Calculations

Sunny weighs the risks and rewards of becoming the Zhens' ayi, balancing loyalty to Rose with her own need for security. Her backstory—an early, loveless marriage, widowhood, and migration—mirrors the sacrifices and resilience of millions of rural women. The city offers both anonymity and opportunity, but also the constant threat of being discarded.

Summer of Silkworms

In flashback, Lina and Qiang's friendship deepens during a summer spent exploring the silkworm factory and playing cards. Their bond is marked by curiosity, rebellion, and the thrill of forbidden closeness. The silkworms, endlessly consuming and transforming, become a metaphor for the changes overtaking their lives and the hunger for something more.

Crossing Thresholds

On her first day as the Zhens' ayi, Sunny is both outsider and insider, privy to the family's routines and dysfunctions. She attempts to return the missing bracelet to clear Rose's name, but realizes the futility and danger of intervening in the affairs of the powerful. The act of tossing the bracelet into the pool is both a release and an admission of powerlessness.

Qiang's Arrival

Qiang's arrival is met with a mix of excitement, suspicion, and nostalgia. The family dinner is tense, as Qiang's ambiguous business dealings and his rapport with Lina unsettle Wei. The conversation exposes the cultural and generational divides between those who left China and those who stayed, and the ways in which success and failure are measured.

Family Table Tensions

The reunion meal becomes a battleground for competing narratives: Qiang's checkered past, Wei's corporate ambitions, and Lina's longing for connection. The missing bracelet, the reality show, and the family's history all collide, forcing each character to confront what has been lost and what cannot be reclaimed.

The Last Summer Night

On the eve of her wedding to Wei, Lina and Qiang confess their love and make a plan to run away together. But Qiang cannot bring himself to defy his adoptive family, and Lina is left to marry Wei, carrying the weight of what might have been. The night is a turning point, marking the end of innocence and the beginning of regret.

Old Loves, New Guilt

In the present, Lina and Qiang's chemistry is undeniable, but both are trapped by their choices and the expectations of others. Their flirtation at the Expo and the intimacy of being locked in together force them to confront the reality of their feelings and the impossibility of turning back time.

City of Strivers

The city is a character in itself, a place of ambition, reinvention, and constant movement. Sunny, Little Cao the driver, and the other service workers navigate its opportunities and dangers, dreaming of better lives while remaining invisible to those they serve. The expats and the newly rich Chinese are equally adrift, seeking meaning in consumption and status.

Becoming a Woman

While her parents are preoccupied, Karen gets her first period, and Wei is forced into the unfamiliar role of caretaker. The awkward, tender episode highlights the generational and cultural gaps within the family, as well as the ways in which love is expressed through small acts of care.

The Expo and Confessions

Lina and Qiang's visit to the World Expo is both a literal and figurative journey through the possibilities and limitations of their relationship. The spectacle of the pavilions contrasts with the private drama unfolding between them, culminating in their being accidentally locked inside the UK pavilion overnight.

Locked In, Let Go

As they wait to be rescued, Lina and Qiang finally speak openly about their past, their regrets, and the choices that have defined them. The physical confinement mirrors the emotional entrapment they have both experienced, and the night becomes a crucible for honesty and, ultimately, acceptance.

Secrets in the Water

Sunny, swimming in the Zhens' pool, finds the missing bracelet in the filter. The object, once so charged with meaning, is now just a trinket—its power to wound and divide diminished. The act of recovery is both literal and symbolic, suggesting the possibility of moving on from old grievances.

Fathers and Daughters

Left alone, Wei and Karen navigate a small domestic crisis, deepening their bond. The episode is a reminder that family is built not just on grand gestures or shared history, but on the willingness to show up for each other in moments of vulnerability.

Shanghai After Dark

Sunny, out with Little Cao and other drivers, glimpses a different side of Shanghai—one of camaraderie, risk, and fleeting joy. She reconnects with Li Jun, a potential suitor, and allows herself to imagine a future shaped by her own desires rather than duty or survival.

Truths in the Seed Cathedral

In the darkness of the UK pavilion, Qiang reveals the secret that has shaped all their lives: he is not Zhen Hong's biological son, but the child of Lina's father and a woman he met during the Cultural Revolution. The marriage between Lina and Wei was arranged to repay this debt, binding the families together in ways none of them fully understood.

The Debt Revealed

Lina is forced to reevaluate her parents, her marriage, and her own sense of self in light of Qiang's revelation. The story of sacrifice, forgiveness, and the limits of love is laid bare, and the characters must decide what to do with the knowledge that has come too late to change the past.

Forgiveness and Farewell

Lina and Qiang part as siblings, not lovers, acknowledging the impossibility of rewriting their story. Qiang prepares to tell Wei the truth, seeking reconciliation and a new beginning. Lina returns to her family, determined to be present and to shape her daughter's future with intention.

New Beginnings

The novel ends with the characters embracing the messy, imperfect lives they have made. Sunny contemplates a future in Shanghai, Lina and Wei reconnect, and Karen is brought closer into the fold. The debts of the past are not erased, but the possibility of forgiveness and renewal remains.

Characters

Lina Zhen

Lina is the emotional center of the novel, a woman caught between cultures, generations, and desires. Her arranged marriage to Wei is both a fulfillment of family duty and a source of lifelong ambivalence, complicated by her youthful love for Qiang. Lina's journey is one of self-discovery, as she moves from passivity and nostalgia to agency and acceptance. Her relationships—with her husband, daughter, and the women around her—are marked by both tenderness and frustration, and her psychological depth is revealed in her constant questioning of what it means to belong, to love, and to forgive.

Wei Zhen

Wei is a self-made man, shaped by the expectations of his family and the opportunities of migration. His success in America and Shanghai is hard-won, but he is often emotionally distant, more comfortable with problems he can solve than with the messiness of relationships. His rivalry with Qiang and his inability to fully understand Lina's inner life are sources of pain, but he is also capable of deep loyalty and, ultimately, humility. Wei's development is seen in his willingness to confront his own limitations and to seek reconciliation with his brother and wife.

Qiang (Zhen Zhiqiang)

Qiang is both a catalyst and a casualty of the family's history. Adopted by the Zhens after being orphaned, he grows up feeling like an outsider, channeling his pain into rebellion, gambling, and eventual estrangement. His love for Lina is genuine but doomed, and his return to Shanghai is an attempt to make amends and reclaim a place in the family. Qiang's psychological complexity lies in his mix of bravado and vulnerability, his longing for acceptance, and his ultimate recognition of the debts he cannot repay.

Sunny

Sunny represents the millions of rural migrants who power China's cities but remain invisible. Her journey from housekeeper to ayi is marked by pragmatism, loyalty, and a quiet hunger for more. She is shaped by loss—of her husband, her home, her illusions—but also by a stubborn refusal to be defined by others' expectations. Sunny's relationships—with Rose, the Zhens, and potential suitors—reveal her capacity for both sacrifice and hope, and her story is one of incremental, hard-won empowerment.

Rose

Rose is Sunny's older colleague and friend, a veteran of domestic work who has learned to survive by being tough and forgettable. Her eventual theft of the bracelet is an act of desperation and protest, exposing the corrosive effects of exploitation and mistrust. Rose's relationship with Sunny is both maternal and competitive, and her fate is a cautionary tale about the costs of invisibility.

Karen Zhen

Karen is the Zhens' daughter, educated in America but spending summers in Shanghai. Her coming of age is marked by confusion, loneliness, and a desire to bridge the gap between her parents' worlds. Her relationship with Sunny is a source of comfort, and her struggles with identity mirror those of her mother. Karen's development is seen in her growing awareness of the complexities of family and the meaning of home.

Little Cao

Little Cao is more than just the Zhens' chauffeur; he is a guide to the hidden Shanghai, a confidant to Sunny, and a commentator on the absurdities of wealth and status. His wit and adaptability mask a deeper understanding of the city's social dynamics, and his friendship with Sunny offers both comic relief and genuine support.

Li Jun

Li Jun is a DVD shop owner and Sunny's potential romantic partner. His straightforwardness and willingness to adapt make him a foil to the more complicated men in the novel. His relationship with Sunny is tentative but hopeful, representing the possibility of love and partnership based on mutual respect rather than obligation.

Rose's Family

Rose's husband and sons, though not central to the plot, represent the ties that bind and the sacrifices made by those who stay behind. Their presence in Rose's life is both a source of comfort and a reminder of what is at stake for migrant workers.

The Zhen and Fang Parents

The parents of Lina, Wei, and Qiang are the unseen forces whose decisions—shaped by history, politics, and personal failings—set the events of the novel in motion. Their secrets, sacrifices, and betrayals echo through the lives of their children, shaping destinies long after their deaths.

Plot Devices

Dual Timelines and Flashbacks

The novel's structure alternates between the present-day lives of the Zhen family and the formative events of their youth in 1980s China. This dual timeline allows the reader to see how past choices, secrets, and traumas shape the present, and how the characters' understanding of themselves and each other evolves as new information comes to light.

The Missing Bracelet

The disappearance and eventual recovery of Lina's ivory bracelet serves as a catalyst for the novel's central conflicts. It exposes the fragility of trust between employers and servants, the power of objects to carry emotional weight, and the ways in which small events can trigger larger reckonings.

The Expo and the Seed Cathedral

The World Expo, with its pavilions and crowds, is both a metaphor for globalization and a literal site of entrapment. The UK pavilion, where Lina and Qiang are locked in overnight, becomes a crucible for truth-telling and the unburdening of secrets, echoing the novel's themes of confinement and release.

Letters and Unspoken Words

Letters, emails, and conversations—both had and avoided—are central to the unfolding of the story. The gaps between what is said and what is meant, what is written and what is withheld, create tension and shape the characters' fates.

The Debt and Adoption Secret

The revelation that Qiang is the biological son of Lina's father and a woman he met during the Cultural Revolution reframes the entire narrative. The marriage between Lina and Wei is revealed as a transaction to repay this debt, complicating notions of love, duty, and family.

Social Hierarchies and Class Mobility

The novel uses the setting of Lanson Suites and the lives of its residents and workers to explore the shifting boundaries of class, privilege, and aspiration. The interplay between expats, returnees, migrants, and locals highlights the fluidity and rigidity of social status in a rapidly changing society.

Analysis

What We Were Promised is a nuanced exploration of family, migration, and the debts—emotional, historical, and material—that bind and divide us. Lucy Tan deftly weaves together the personal and the political, showing how the legacies of revolution, migration, and modernization shape individual destinies. The novel interrogates the meaning of home, the costs of ambition, and the limits of forgiveness, refusing easy answers or sentimental resolutions. Through its richly drawn characters—each struggling to reconcile past and present, duty and desire—it offers a meditation on the ways we are shaped by forces beyond our control, and the small acts of agency and connection that allow us to move forward. Ultimately, the book suggests that while we may never fully escape the promises and betrayals of the past, we can choose, in the present, to seek understanding, to forgive, and to begin again.

Last updated: July 30, 2025