Mariella asked Lisa See:

One of the many elements I enjoyed in China Dolls, an element that made this novel stand out from your previous works, was the great emotional depth of your male characters (particularly Eddie.) Why do you think this story lent to a deeper exploration of your heroines' male counterparts? Thanks for being a magnificent woman!

Lisa See I'm flattered you think I'm a magnificent woman! Thank you! But to answer your question, I have to be true to the time period in which China Dolls takes place, right? In the 1930s and 1940s, men were very much in control. In China Dolls, the character of Joe is central to the love triangle, Charlie Low runs the Forbidden City nightclub and hires the girls, Eddie is a male dancer who has a secret. I couldn’t have written China Dolls without them. All that said, I actually think men are extraordinarily important in all of my stories. They often set the plot into action as men so often do in real life. But instead of my novels revolving around them, as stories usually do, I want to tell the stories of those who are often ignored as “unimportant.” They are important to me as a woman, wife, mother, and now grandmother.

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