June May, whose Chinese name is Jing-mei, is the narrator and protagonist of the story. She is 36 years old, and she has just lost her mother, Suyuan, to a brain aneurysm. June May embarks on both a physical and inner journey as she travels through China with her father, Canning Woo. This journey catalyzes change within June May, who embodies two of the novel’s core themes—Embracing Multicultural Identity and The Complexity of Grief—while discovering her Chinese heritage and processing the loss of her mother.

At the beginning of the story, June May struggles with how to properly grieve. She explains, “Right after my mother died, I asked myself a lot of things, things that couldn’t be answered, to force myself to grieve more. It seemed as if I wanted to sustain my grief, to assure myself that I had cared deeply enough” (300). June May also feels guilt related to her mother’s death. She discloses to Auntie Lindo, a woman with whom Suyuan played mahjong, that she feels she did not appreciate her mother enough.

June May is characterized not only by her own thoughts and actions but also by her Chinese name, Jing-mei.