China Rich Girlfriend

Nick is a main character in the novel, Rachel’s fiancé and then husband. He is in his mid-30s, with dark hair, and is considered quite handsome. Nick was born in Singapore and attended boarding school in England. He is now a professor of history at New York University. Though he grew up in a wealthy and influential family, in the beautiful environment of Tyersall Park, Nick does not participate in the competition of conspicuous consumption like the sons of other wealthy families. He wears his grandfather’s watch because of its sentimental value, not because it’s a designer brand. While he enjoys giving Rachel things she wants, like a beautiful engagement ring and a lovely, intimate wedding, he values their relationship above all. Nick gets along with his cousins Astrid and Alastair because they, too, are down-to-earth and have creative interests beyond simply being wealthy.

Nick is loyal, honest, sensible, and thinks fast in a crisis. He pays attention to Rachel’s feelings and supports her choices. He is sensitive to her needs and seeks to take care of her, rushing to her hospital bedside when she’s ill. Nick does not attempt to manipulate others, nor does he judge them for their flaws or foibles. He’s aware of how others strategize for position and influence and is amused by it, noticing when Jack Bing tries to size him up, but he doesn’t feel a need to participate in the competition himself.

Carlton Bao is a young Chinese man, in his early 20s and Rachel’s half-brother. Carlton is impetuous and reckless. As the only son of the wealthy Baos, he has been raised with the expectation that he will someday run the family business, and he fled the pressures he felt in China to live in Britain, where he felt he could be himself. Unfortunately, his choice to drag race through London with Richie Yang led to a crash that paralyzed one young woman and killed another. Carlton feels intense remorse for that action and believes he will be haunted by that loss for the rest of his life.

While Carlton is sleeping with Colette, he doesn’t consider her his girlfriend and their relationship, for him, is not serious. Carlton is still figuring out what he wants to do with his life, but he does want his family to get along, and for his parents to accept Rachel. He wants to find a sense of ease in himself that doesn’t require having to show off or prove anything via his racing or by any other means. Carlton is curious to meet Rachel and goes against his mother’s wishes to spend time with her. Carlton’s relationship with Rachel is strengthened when she talks him out of drag racing Richie in Paris, showing him he doesn’t have to prove anything and encouraging him to be responsible. He takes Rachel’s side, refusing to talk to Colette after Roxanne poisons Rachel, demonstrating his loyalty is ultimately to his family and the people he cares about.

Astrid is a protagonist and one of the point-of-view characters in the novel. Astrid is in her 30s, slender, and described as remarkably beautiful. She is the only daughter of Harry and Felicity Leong and takes to heart their wish to keep their family out of the spotlight. Though Astrid has friends among the glamorous and wealthy all over the world, she has no wish to seek the spotlight. She appreciates beautiful things and has found satisfaction working with the art museum, donating her time and sometimes her own fortune to help obtain items for the collection.

Astrid is very loyal to her family and always comes through with whatever they wish of her. She was engaged to marry Charlie Wu after college and they were very much in love, but when Astrid’s family discouraged the match, she broke up with him. Astrid has eclectic taste and often chooses to wear clothing or jewels that have a history, though she also prefers to simply wear what she likes. Astrid is a caring mother and tries hard to be a supportive wife to Michael. Uncharacteristically, Astrid defied her family to marry Michael, a handsome man with a military background but with no wealth or family name. Since then she has tried hard to make Michael happy, but nothing she does seems to please him.

Astrid values her friendships and is grateful for emotional support from Charlie. She keeps in touch with Rachel and Nick and thinks Nick did the right thing in choosing Rachel. However, because she is often looked at and looked up to, Astrid feels the need to hide her emotional distress over her marriage from others. She is kind-hearted and would never be vindictive. She feels guilty when Isabel assumes she is Charlie’s mistress and she is hurt and betrayed when Michael accuses her of having an affair.

Colette, one of the main characters in the novel, is a young woman of 23, the daughter of Chinese billionaire Jack Bing. Colette is an influencer with 35 million followers on her social media accounts. She loves being a trend-setter, enjoys being the center of attention, and takes great pride in her taste. She works hard to teach her parents how to enjoy fine things and exhibit class as well as wealth. Colette appears to be generous with favors, but it turns out she is cultivating good will so she can ask for favors in return. She resists her parents’ wish that she be married, instead expressing the desire to enjoy her independence, though she prefers Carlton and expects that she will marry him when she’s ready.

Like Carlton, Colette is impetuous and occasionally reckless, though she does express concern when Carlton withdraws or disappears. She dislikes Richie Yang, who she does not feel is good enough for her despite his wealth, and she makes much of her acquaintance with movie stars. Colette likes to be in charge of every situation, and she does not like for her will to be crossed. She has a temper and expects things to be exactly how she wants them—a quality that ultimately leads her personal assistant, Roxanne Ma, to attack Rachel on Colette’s behalf. Colette feels intense pressure to look attractive and be admired, and this leads her to behave in headstrong and selfish ways.

Kitty Pong, another point-of-view character in the novel, is a social climber avid for wealth, fame, attention, and influence. She married Bernard Tai for his money and has been living separately from him, enjoying a lavish lifestyle as Jack Bing’s mistress, while Bernard withdraws from public life and devotes himself to fatherhood. Kitty likes to dress dramatically and be talked about and admired. She grew up in a poor Chinese village and began a career as an actress in a soap opera. Now that she has married well, she wants to appear to belong among the wealthy and powerful. Her strategy for doing so entails the acquisition of art and houses, as well as exhibitions of philanthropy; she buys The Palace of Eighteen Perfections as proof of her wealth and social power using, as it turns out, Jack Bing’s money.

Kitty’s wish to be admired, and no longer looked down on, leads her to hire the services of the expensive consultant Corinna Ko-Tung to teach her how to dress and behave. Kitty is embarrassed by Bernard and doesn’t talk about him, which leads to various entertaining rumors that he has been kidnapped, is ill, or is in an institution. Kitty feels loyalty only to her own ambition and single-mindedly focused on her goals. She has been content to let Bernard raise their child himself until Corinna spurs her to action. Kitty is very receptive to people telling her what to do if she thinks it will benefit her in some way.

Corinna is a secondary and supporting character in the novel, but she plays a key role as the exemplar of the close-knit high society of Hong Kong and Singapore that try to distinguish themselves from the newly rich in an attempt to reify their power and protect their own interests with exclusivity in clubs, churches, and social events. Corinna comes from established, old money and has an in at all the most elite places, including a house in the most exclusive neighborhood in Hong Kong. Corinna earns her living acting as a sort of consultant for aspiring women, teaching them how to enter the upper echelons of Hong Kong society, using her own history and background as an example. In remaking Kitty, Corinna focuses her attention exclusively on image and appearance. She believes happiness is tied to being socially important and she assumes that is what Kitty wants too. Corinna exhibits the old-money outlook that demands exhibitions of elegance, class, culture, and education, not just displays of purchasing power.

Eleanor is a supporting character in this novel, but she exemplifies a certain type of Asian women that the novel seems to simultaneously satirize and admire. Eleanor is highly intelligent and has built her own independent wealth, which she manages on her own, but she has dedicated her life to advancing the interests of her son, Nick, once her husband, Philip, the only son of Shang Su Yi, withdrew to live in Sydney. While Philip and Eleanor are still married, they live largely separate lives, as Philip prefers a quiet lifestyle in Australia, and Eleanor enjoys being part of the social upper crust of Singapore. She feels she has sacrificed a great deal for the Young family—she knows Su Yi never approved of her—and feels she should get to enjoy some luxury in her life as a result of her efforts and sacrifices.

Eleanor is impressed by displays of wealth, as shown by her interest in her friend’s jewelry tea party, but she is also part of the upper crust who disapproves of the “vulgar” newly rich and will work hard to keep them socially subordinate. Eleanor is more traditional than not when it comes to ideas about how her son should live and who he should marry. All of Eleanor’s ambitions are wrapped up in Nick eventually inheriting Tyersall Park, Su Yi’s beautiful and massive estate. She works to discover Rachel’s father’s background in case the information may potentially benefit Nick, which she ultimately decides it will, since Bao Gaoliang is both wealthy and politically important. She holds certain prejudices toward Mainlanders, as do many Singaporeans of her class in the novel, but Eleanor is also smart enough to know when she is defeated. She is the self-appointed architect of her family’s success—a position also claimed by Bao Shaoyen in her own family—and, after Nick’s marriage, Eleanor shows an interest in their having a child to pass on the family name, fortune, and standing.