Crazy Rich Asians

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue

Part 1, Chapters 1-6

Part 1, Chapters 7-12

Part 1, Chapters 13-18

Part 2, Chapters 1-6

Part 2, Chapters 7-12

Part 2, Chapters 13-18

Part 3, Chapters 1-6

Part 3, Chapters 7-12

Part 3, Chapters 13-20

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Part 1, Chapters 13-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapter 13 Summary

Eleanor calls her husband Philip in Australia to tell him that their son is bringing home a girl whose family is from mainland China. She hired an investigator to find out more about Rachel’s background and has just gotten back the report: Rachel’s mother is from a small village in Northern China, and she comes from nothing. Philip is not interested and doesn’t share his wife’s concern over Rachel’s family history.

That week at Bible study, Eleanor’s social circle convinces her that Rachel being ABC, or American Born Chinese, is terrible and that Nick is making a mistake and needs to be stopped. They decide to take a girl’s trip to Shenzhen to pay a man to find out more about Rachel’s family.

Part 1, Chapter 14 Summary

Rachel and Nick land in Singapore and are greeted at the airport by Colin and his fiancée Araminta Lee. Colin and Araminta take them straight from the airport to find food in the city. The men argue about which place serves the best satay, and Araminta jokes with Rachel that arguing about food is Singaporean culture. Finally, the friends all stop at Lau Pa Sat, a market where they can try food from various food stalls. Rachel enjoys the food and atmosphere so much that she declares she never wants to leave.

Colin and Araminta’s easy-going friendliness towards Nick and Rachel leads them to believe that Rachel will fit in well with Nick’s peers and family. They show Rachel a down-to-earth view of Singapore, and Rachel doesn’t realize that the people who she’s enjoying street food with are extremely wealthy.

Part 1, Chapter 15 Summary

Astrid goes to her favorite jeweler, Stephen, to shop, hoping to take her mind off the situation with Michael. She picks out several rare and expensive pieces of jewelry. Stephen asks if she likes the charm bracelet that Michael bought for her a month prior; she lies and says that she did, though Michael didn’t give her a bracelet. She wonders who he bought it for, but she pushes the worry away and buys him a pair of vintage cufflinks that used to belong to Clark Gable, a classic Hollywood actor. She places all of her hopes for her marriage into these cuff links, thinking, “Michael is as handsome as Clark Gable. And now he will have Gable’s cuff links. And he will love them. They weren’t too expensive. He won’t get mad. He will love me. He still loves me” (136).

Part 1, Chapter 16 Summary

Rachel messages Peik Lin and they decide to meet up later in the day. She goes with Peik Lin to her family’s mansion, Villa d’Oro, and she meets the Goh family, who are very rich and all have distinct, larger-than-life personalities. The Gohs own a real estate firm which Peik Lin, her father Wye Mun, and her brothers all work for. Peik Lin’s mother, Neena, insists that Rachel refer to her as Auntie Neena and invites her to have lunch with the family. During the bountiful lunch, they discover that Rachel and her boyfriend Nick came to Singapore to attend Colin Khoo’s wedding to Araminta Lee. This, they reveal, is the wedding of the year in Singapore. Wye Mun asks who Nick is, but the Gohs have never heard of Nick or the Young family, and Rachel doesn’t know much about his family, either. Wye Mun insists that Rachel update them when she learns more, offering to look into his background for her, but Rachel politely declines.

Part 1, Chapter 17 Summary

Nick and Colin meet up at a coffee shop that they frequented as teens. They discuss the mutual pressure that they have faced, as heirs, to marry well. Colin says that he is lucky that he “actually want[s] to marry Araminta” (156). He warns Nick to be mindful of how his relationship with Rachel might change once she goes with him to his grandmother’s party that evening. He reminds Nick that he is the only grandchild that carries the Young name and therefore stands to inherit the bulk of their estate. He warns Nick that because of his name and position, people will be looking to move Rachel out of the way. Nick balks at the idea, believing that his relationship with Rachel is stronger than everyone seems to think.

Part 1, Chapter 18 Summary

After taking a tour of Villa d’Oro, Rachel and Peik Lin return to the hotel and Peik Lin insists they try the high tea. Nick calls and asks Rachel to join him for dinner at his grandmother’s house. Peik Lin helps Rachel decide what to wear to the event, though Rachel goes with her initial instinct, wearing an elegant, brown, linen dress and the most expensive pearl earrings she owns. Curious to find out about Nick’s family, Peik Lin gives Rachel a ride to Tyersall Park, where Nick’s grandmother lives and is throwing her dinner party. They are both surprised that the house is behind a gate guarded by a Gurkha (Nepali soldiers that are recruited into the British Army.) The Gurkha confirms Rachel’s identity and allows them to drive onto the property. The house is a huge estate that sits on at least 50 acres of land, and neither Rachel nor Peik Lin can believe what they’re seeing. They are both shocked that Nick’s family is extremely rich.

Part 1, Chapters 13-18 Analysis

The earlier hints at Michael’s infidelity are confirmed at the jeweler, where Astrid is forced to face the reality that her husband has a mistress. She self-soothes by buying expensive jewelry, which also marks the beginning of her journey toward the truth. The two relationships featured in these chapters—Astrid’s with Michael and Nick’s with Rachel—both feature secrets that are being uncovered. The dramatic parallels between these two relationships continue throughout the book. In Nick’s and Rachel’s case, Rachel learns at the end of Chapter 18 that Nick is extremely wealthy. The clues are laid in the preceding chapters, from the first-class flight to Singapore to the reveal that his best friend, Colin Khoo, is a well-known and rich person. Rachel doesn’t get confirmation of Nick’s wealth until she arrives at Tyersall Park and sees the size of the house, the acreage, and the secrecy surrounding the house’s location.

While Rachel isn’t angry with Nick for concealing this, this reveal contributes to the theme of How Money Affects Love. Nick kept his status a secret to protect himself from people who might want to use him; as his friends hint, the secret has also protected Rachel from the scrutiny of high society. Like many fairytales and romances—another motif in the book—even genuine relationships can’t thrive without trust and honesty. The effects of secrets, money, and class disparities, hinted at in Part 1 become major sources of tension in Parts 2 and 3.

Rachel’s character arc begins in earnest as she confronts her assumptions and insecurities as she becomes more involved with Nick’s superrich world in Singapore. Aside from different Chinese traditional customs, which are also foreign to her, she must navigate social relationships and attitudes that she has never experienced. Her ability to adapt and not be intimidated by the women who look down on her—including Nick’s mother—and to be secure in her relationship with Nick will be her character’s tests. The greatest test comes later when she has to face her own past and decide how to move forward.