Preparation For The Next Life

How do Zou Lei and Skinner’s individual struggles become intertwined, and how does their dependence on one another complicate their love?

In Section 412 of the Patriot Act, it is stated that the attorney general has the power to arrest or detain immigrants if there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that that person is involved in “activity that endangers national security”. Early in the novel, Zou Lei is detained and incarcerated after an “immigration sweep” but is never officially charged with committing a crime. How does this impact her initial view of the United States as a land of freedom and opportunity?

Only one chapter in the novel is told from the first-person point of view. Why do you believe the author decided to choose that chapter in particular? What is important about the chapter?