May-ying

The author's grandmother, she was sold by her mother as a very young girl and then sold as a concubine by her employer. May-ying was terribly disappointed that her two first children were girls and hoped desperately that her third would be the son she believed she owed her husband. The third child was also a girl, Hing, who was the author's mother. May-ying's disappointment was at least partly because she believed that having produced a boy would end her obligation to her husband, Chan Sam. After Hing's birth, May-ying began gambling and drinking heavily. Often, Hing woke to hear May-ying entertaining men. May-ying adopted a son, Gok-leng, though he lived with her only occasionally. May-ying seldom seemed to care about making a home for Hing and Gok-leng though at one point she settled into an apartment and for a short time their lives became more tolerable. As...