“The smallpox passed me by with only one scar behind my left ear. At the time, a fortune teller said I was lucky, but perhaps he was simply being optimistic.”

This quotation introduces the reader to the concept of luck or fate, which will impact many of the characters and their decisions throughout the course of the novel. From the outset, much of what Li Lan experiences may in fact be part of a greater destiny. In this way, the quote also foreshadows that thoroughly unlucky things will happen to her and that being marked by this smallpox outbreak was more of a curse than a blessing.

“As I considered this web of relationships, I couldn’t help feeling a frisson of excitement. It was a world of wealth and intrigue, much like the crudely printed romances that my father was so dismissive of.”

In this passage, Li Lan reflects on the complex and dramatic Lim family history, with its many tragic deaths and complicated familial relationships. She compares it to a romance novel, and in doing so, signals that The Ghost Bride also draws on many of the same romantic tropes in its own plot. This quote is another example of foreshadowing, as it hints at the way that Li Lan will be drawn into the Lim family plot more deeply and the fact that her family and the Lims are much more connected than she realizes.