Dial A for Aunties

Ma is Meddy’s mother, the third sister among the aunties. She is the florist in their wedding business and a strong proponent of the healing properties of traditional Chinese medicine. She cares for Meddy deeply, although she shows her affection in ways that Meddy doesn’t always agree with, such as arranging a date between Meddy and Jake/Ah Guan. Ma is Meddy’s first bastion of support in a crisis, as evidenced by Meddy’s reaction after waking to find Ah Guan apparently dead. Ma is empathetic and understanding when Meddy finally confesses her secrets, having undergone similar struggles herself in her youth. She changes Meddy’s mind about the family “curse,” as she views the absent men rather as a family “blessing,” as she maintained a close relationship with her sisters and daughters as a result.

Ma and Fourth Aunt have a strong sibling rivalry; the cause is unknown, but likely goes back decades. Therefore, they bicker often, but as the younger siblings, they also defer to Big Aunt and Second Aunt. This rivalry can have drastic results, such as the unintentional extreme drugging of the groomsmen.

The eldest of the four sisters, Big Aunt is the pastry chef in the Chans’ wedding business. She is the matriarch of the family; all the other aunties, except for Second Aunt, and Meddy defer to her. This deference is due not only to her status earned by age, but also because of her authoritative and commanding bearing, which often manifests in “The Voice.” Big Aunt usually problem solves or decides the plan of action, and she is usually the final word in a dispute. Meddy learns from Big Aunt and imitates The Voice when she pretends to be Nathan’s attorney. Big Aunt and Second Aunt are also sibling rivals, but as with Ma and Fourth Aunt, the precise cause of that rivalry is unknown.

The second eldest of the aunties, Second Aunt is in charge of hair and makeup in the wedding business. She is the most superstitious of the four women, to the point that she refuses to touch Ah Guan’s corpse. She is also the most dismissive of Meddy’s linguistic struggles, often demanding that Meddy speak in English as her “broken” Mandarin and Indonesian “giv[es] her a headache” (62). Second Aunt often breaks into spontaneous Tai Chi poses when stressed, as she believes it will help with her high blood pressure.

Second Aunt resents Big Aunt’s authority and constantly seeks to depose and undermine her. Second Aunt’s placement of Ah Guan’s corpse among the groomsmen, which is part of her efforts to this effect, complicates the concealment and disposal of the body. However, by the end of the novel, Second Aunt and Big Aunt come to a truce, though Meddy cheekily reflects that things are “so much more annoying now that they’re agreeing with each other” (292).

The youngest of the four aunties, Fourth Aunt is the wedding singer. She is the most flamboyant of the four, reflected through her elaborate manicure: her nails “have been blinged out with crystals and, on her pinkies, even feathers” (113). Although, like her sisters, she immigrated to the US as an adult, she has the highest fluency in English and social media, and uses this knowledge as a way to show off. She exhibits similar behavior with secrets. When she finds out about Meddy’s relationship with Nathan, she provokes Ma as part of their sibling rivalry, suggesting that Meddy keeping a secret is evidence that her “daughter doesn’t feel comfortable sharing secrets” and hence Ma “failed as a mother” (135).

Nathan Chan (no relation to Meddy’s family) is Meddy’s boyfriend from college. A British citizen with white and Hong Kong Chinese heritage, his dream is to run a hotel; though he has been successful so far, the wedding currently at his hotel could make or break his budding career. Although Nathan and Meddy’s relationship reflects the “one true pairing” trope, Meddy balks at moving to New York City with him after graduation and breaks up with him rather than have emotionally fraught conversations with him and her family. Nathan, who was deeply invested in their relationship, was heartbroken and becomes hopeful he might at least find answers when he encounters Meddy at his hotel. While he initially misunderstands Ah Guan’s presence in Meddy’s hotel room, Nathan remains loyal; after he figures out the circumstances, he keeps Meddy’s secret until the corpse is discovered on the altar.

Nathan’s background also starkly contrasts with Meddy’s, which contributes to her hesitance to introduce him to her family and his confusion at her reluctance. His family (friendly, but proper and reserved) and house (literally magazine-worthy) are the complete opposite to Meddy’s exuberant family and chaotic home. Although the families eventually do accept each partner respectively, both Nathan and Meddy must overcome the culture and class differences to achieve this approval.

Ah Guan, whose online alias is “Jake the rich hotelier,” is Ma’s lily supplier. Greedy and manipulative, he convinces Ma to set up an online dating profile for Meddy in order to go on a date with Meddy himself. This behavior, and his disrespect for Meddy’s boundaries, will eventually kill him (accidentally). For the rest of the novel, his role is mainly as an important prop: His corpse symbolizes secrets, both Meddy’s and those of other characters.

Ah Guan also convinces Maureen to steal the wedding gifts, which symbolize desire. He had no intention of returning the gifts. This plot is discovered and foiled by Meddy and her family.

An “accountant extraordinaire” (289), Maureen Halim is Jacqueline’s best friend and maid of honor. Maureen is Jacqueline’s main supporter and confidante. However, Maureen is secretly in love with Jacqueline and only reluctantly supports Jacqueline’s boyfriends—except for Tom, who she cannot abide. Desperate to stop the wedding and save Jacqueline from an awful marriage, Maureen conspires with Ah Guan to steal the wedding gifts, intending to return them after the wedding is halted.

Meddy foiling her plans makes Maureen desperate. Although Maureen presents herself as determined to achieve her goals by any means necessary, Maureen is kind at heart: She feigns holding the Chans hostage at gunpoint, but the gun isn’t loaded; when she sends Meddy to steal the gifts a second time, it’s a ruse to find a way to talk to Jacqueline and explain herself. Intelligent and capable, Maureen also figures out the Chans’ corpse quandary, extorting them with it; however, after she and Jacqueline make amends, she helps the Chans convince the sheriff to accept the false circumstances of Ah Guan’s death.

The daughter of a wealthy Chinese Indonesian family, Jacqueline is the bride in the wedding party. She is a kind and friendly woman who suffers from the stress and chaos inflicted on the wedding proceedings by the groom’s party, Maureen, and Meddy’s family. Jacqueline considers Maureen her best friend and confidante and is devastated when Maureen is revealed as the wedding gift thief. Jacqueline turns to Meddy as Maureen’s temporary replacement, but she confides that “the worst part today is […] [that] the first person I turn to is Maureen. And now I can’t” (272).

Jacqueline initially knows little of the corpse problem or the theft underlying her wedding ceremony. However, her role as the “damsel in distress” is sidelined in favor of Maureen and Meddy’s drama. Once all secrets come to light, Jacqueline saves herself by rejecting her marriage with Tom, thereby overcoming her own initial hesitance to oppose the match her parents arranged with the Sutopos. When Meddy convinces her to learn Maureen’s motivations for the theft, Jacqueline is motivated to confess her romantic feelings for Maureen, whom she later marries.