The Astonishing Color of After

Feng suggests that they should visit the Chinese Culture Center where Dory attended university. As Leigh proceeds to photograph the view, she catches sight of the bird’s red tail. The bird’s shadow appears in her photograph. At home that night, she uses one of the precious few remaining incense sticks. She sees a photograph of her parents’ wedding in the box of mementos; both Dory and Brian look posed and happy.

Leigh has visions of her parents as college students. In one vision Dory comes to Brian’s room in the middle of the night to announce that she has received the news of her sister Jingling’s death. Jingling died from an aneurysm. Dory immediately returns to Taiwan but stays in touch with Brian. Leigh’s grandparents overhear Dory’s telephone conversations and become anxious because they believe Dory should marry someone Chinese.

Leigh wonders about her grandparents disapproving of Dory’s white American boyfriend. She wonders if this was why her father could not remain in the apartment with his in-laws and why her parents thought “they could build a family around so many secrets” (313). She receives an email from Axel containing a watercolor of her mother and her cat.