The Girl Who Wrote in Silk

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism.

Mei Lien is one of the two protagonists in the novel. It is her experience as a Chinese American woman that drives the events of the novel, both in her time and later in Inara’s contemporary experience. She is young and dies at just 26 years old, likely from stomach or uterine cancer. 

Out of necessity, Mei Lien dresses like a boy throughout the early parts of her life in Seattle and later on Orcas Island. Since she is her father’s only child, she is more helpful posing as a boy than she could be as a girl. On the Island, she initially conceals herself by dressing as a boy and acting as Joseph’s servant. She is a caring, loyal, and dedicated woman who devotes herself to her family. However, she is also slow to trust largely due to her repeated experiences with injustice, racism, and unfathomable violence.

Her character arc begins in relative innocence before her family is evicted from their home city. Her primary concern on the morning they are violently forced out of Seattle is whether her father will allow her to have the candied plum early.