she was born in a fading aristocratic family in shanghai. around her, contradictions and aberrations are normal in lute's family. lute grows up watching the adults around her, and there is much to see. the sprawling, extended family and their ever-present servants exist in a sea of gossip, scandal, jealousy and fear. this is a household immersed in a decaying grandeur amid the intoxicating smell of opium. for lute, the family was like a pagoda imprisoning her which she spent all her life to escape, albeit reluctantly.