The alternating first-person point-of-view motif used throughout the novel is a literary device that allows the author to create a richer narrative and sequence revelations. In many instances, the same event is described from both sides of the mother/daughter, demonstrating that their perspectives matter greatly to their description of what transpires. For example, the reader sees Ying-ying through the filter of Lena’s eyes, which view her as bewildering and possibly mentally ill. In Ying-ying’s later explanation of the trauma she experienced that led her to alter her persona, the reader comes to understand why she behaves as she did.

The structure of the novel, with its four mother and four daughter characters, with four stories in each of the four sections, creates an interrelated construction that symbolizes “balance,” a requirement mentioned frequently by the mothers. Moreover, combining stories from both the past and present weaves together a sense of who the characters are and what they wish for, highlighting both unfulfilled hopes and actualized understanding. Conflicts are introduced from both mother and daughter perspectives and resolutions move toward a climax in each pairing. Each mother/daughter narrative stands alone, but is also part of the overall chronicle as the lives of the mothers, and their families, are inexorably interconnected.