Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses rape, gambling addiction, and pregnancy loss.

“As a capable young woman, Casey Han felt compelled to choose respectability and success. But it was glamour and insight she craved.”

This quotation from the beginning of the novel introduces Casey as a character. It highlights one of the key contradictions in Casey’s character, which in turn becomes one of the key sources of conflict within the plot. Casey is smart and driven; she could strive for conventional markers of success. However, in an early reference to the theme of Creativity and the Value of Beauty, she also longs to exercise her creativity and enjoy beauty.

“I want love, Tina. I want that. I’ll pay.”

After Tina, Casey’s sister, asks for advice about whether or not to have sex before getting married, Casey gives this response. Casey thinks that Tina is being too cautious, trying to take a rational approach to topics that Casey approaches with a sense of abandon. Casey expresses her willingness to take risks in pursuit of finding love, even while acknowledging that seeking such an intense and passionate emotion can yield great pain. This sentiment turns out to prove true over the course of the novel.

“She felt that an article of clothing could change a person, literally cast a spell. Each skirt, blouse, necklace, or humble shoe said something—certain pieces screamed, and others whispered seductively.”

Casey reflects on the power of clothing as she impulsively shops in expensive stores the day after she catches Jay cheating on her. Her choice illustrates early on the theme of Giving in to Compulsions Despite Consequences.