The Teller of Small Fortunes

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, emotional abuse, and death.

“Tao reached into one of the pouches at her waist and took out a small, tapered rod of finely carved jade with an elaborately curved hook on one end: a ji, or Shinn hairpin. She turned it over in her fingers for a moment, noting the way the jade felt both cold and warm at the same time. Did her mother miss wearing it? Did she even feel its absence anymore? But Tao swallowed past the lump in her throat as she carefully inserted the ji into her bun, adjusting it this way and that until it was secure. This wasn’t the time to dwell on memories. She had fortunes to tell.”

The jade ji functions as a tangible link to Tao’s Shinn heritage and complicated relationship with her mother. The sensory contradiction of the hairpin feeling “both cold and warm” mirrors Tao’s conflicted emotions about her past. Tao’s deliberate act of compartmentalizing these feelings reveals her coping mechanism for emotional survival while carrying the physical weight of her heritage.

“Something within her ached at the sound, and the ache was almost like hunger—an odd, familiar longing for someplace she had never been; for something she did not know. Then the tavern door slammed shut, and the sound of merriment was muffled once more.”

This quote uses a simile to compare emotional longing to physical hunger, emphasizing the visceral nature of Tao’s isolation. Her “familiar longing” for an unknown place is a paradox that reveals her disconnection from both her Shinn heritage and Eshteran surroundings. The slamming door serves as both literal and metaphorical barrier, underscoring the theme of Finding a Sense of Home in Relationships that Tao hasn’t yet recognized she’s seeking.

“Tao wasn’t sure whether Esther would find the courage to leave, but she hoped she’d made it a little easier for her to take another path, should Esther choose it. 

Everyone deserves a home, Tao thought, patting Laohu’s whiskery grey nose. And what was a home but somewhere you wouldn’t have to feel quite so alone?”

This passage directly articulates the novel’s definition of home as emotional connections rather than a physical location. Tao’s empathetic concern for Esther demonstrates her compassion despite her outward detachment, sensing that Esther, like her, is estranged in her surroundings. This, combined with Tao’s simple, affectionate gesture toward her mule, reveals her ability to find small connections even while believing herself fundamentally alone.