58 pages • 1 hour read
Mira T. LeeEverything Here Is Beautiful
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary
The story opens with Miranda, the older of two sisters, cooking lunch for her younger sister Lucia. As Miranda sets the table, Lucia calls her to the backyard, showing her a spider and its web. Miranda tries to calm her sister, explaining that it won’t hurt her, but Lucia stops her, explaining that she thinks the spider and its web are beautiful.
Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Miranda”
Lucia introduces Miranda and their mother to Yonah, her fiancé. Miranda does not like Yonah, finding him loud and unintelligent. Soon, the sisters’ mother dies from lung cancer, and the siblings spend the evening cleaning out their mother’s things and making Chinese almond cookies. Lucia and Yonah get married at city hall, and Lucia seems to be happy, healthy, and in love. Miranda contemplates her role within Lucia’s life and how it has impacted her own.
A few months after Yonah and Lucia marry, Miranda receives a call from Yonah. He explains that Lucia has stopped sleeping and seems to be talking about things that don’t make sense. Miranda describes how Lucia received her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder three years prior. Her first “episode” had lasted nine months, and it resulted in Lucia being admitted into a psychiatric unit. Miranda realizes that Lucia had not told Yonah about her illness, and she takes them both to the hospital. Yonah argues with Miranda about involuntarily admitting Lucia to the hospital; he refuses, and since he is Lucia’s husband, Lucia is not admitted.
Miranda returns to her own home and meets a Swiss urologist named Stefan; the pair begin dating. Later, Lucia tells Yonah and Miranda that she wants a baby. Yonah refuses for several months, and eventually, Lucia decides to leave Yonah. Miranda moves into Stefan’s home in Boston, but returns back to New York when Yonah calls her and tells her that Lucia contacted him from the hospital. She had been found by the police, undressed and yelling for a girl in a tree. Yonah did not fight Lucia’s admittance into the psychiatric ward.
Lucia is discharged four days later, and Miranda introduces her to Stefan. Stefan tries to comfort Miranda, but it aggravates her; he doesn’t understand that she has to help Lucia.
In the winter, Lucia moves into a communal house with several immigrants from Ecuador. Miranda tells Yonah that she is moving to Switzerland with Stefan. The two speak for a bit, and Miranda realizes that she cares for Yonah, accepting him as part of her family.
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “Manuel”
Manny met Lucia at a laundromat and was instantly physically attracted to her. Lucia ends up moving into the home that Manny lives within and the pair begin a sexual relationship. One day, Lucia decides to go back to Ecuador, and Miranda asks Manny if Lucia had been acting odd, which he denies. Miranda leaves him her phone number in case he needs to speak to her about Lucia. Later, the police arrive at Manny’s apartment, but they leave quickly. Manny is an undocumented immigrant and is fearful of being caught by the authorities.
After about two months, Lucia returns from Ecuador and announces that she is pregnant. Manny tells his family that he is going to be a father, and his mother urges him to marry Lucia. She believes that if he marries Lucia and gets his American citizenship, they can bring Fredy, Manny’s ill younger brother, to the United States for life-saving treatment. Manny remembers his younger brother Alamar, who had died in childbirth, leaving the family devastated. Years later, Fredy was born; he had an intellectual disability and a weak heart that would need treatment. The “medicine man” from the mountains claims that he is a “curse.” Manny’s mother reminds Manny that his duty is to his family, and that he must help his brother because it’s his responsibility.
During Lucia’s pregnancy, Manny begins working with a man named Maurice who renovates houses. Susi, one of the other residents within the home, throws Lucia a baby shower. Manny’s mother asks him again if he has asked Lucia to marry him.
After their daughter Esperanza—“Essy”—is born, Lucia begins to act differently. Lucia feels paranoia about the television being on near Essy, she worries about bugs within their bed and home, and she begins to wear socks over her hands. It becomes apparent that she is not able to safely care for her daughter. Manny, angered by Lucia’s behavior, moves to a room downstairs, taking Essy with him. He begins to have an intimate relationship with Susi.
One day, while Manny is at work, he receives a call from Essy’s doctor. The doctor explains that while Essy is okay, Lucia is not. She threatens to call Child Protective Services if Lucia does not seek professional medical help. Confused, Manny returns home. He receives a call from Miranda, stating that Lucia is in the hospital. Manny learns about Lucia’s diagnosis, and he struggles to take care of Essy on his own. One day, he returns home to discover that Susi has been taken away by immigration services.
Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 2 Analysis
Both Miranda and Lucia use Mandarin terms to address each other throughout the novel. Miranda often refers to Lucia as “Mei,” stemming from the Mandarin term Mèimei (妹妹) which means “younger sister.” Lucia, similarly, calls Miranda “Jie,” short for Jiějiě (姐姐) which means “older sister.” Their mother refers to Lucia as Xiǎo mèi’ (小妹) meaning “little girl” or “little sister,” and Miranda as “Nǚ’ér” (女儿), meaning “daughter.” The use of these terms quickly establishes that despite living in America, the Boks are deeply connected to their Chinese heritage. Chinese culture plays a huge role in their lives, shaping the way they perceive the world, themselves, and their roles within relationships. This comes into play in tandem with the theme of Balancing Self-Care and Family Obligations, as Miranda repeatedly puts her obligations to Lucia above herself, representing the collectivist tendencies of Chinese culture in contrast to the individualistic tendencies of American culture.
Though Lucia takes Yonah to meet her family, Ma, the sisters’ mother, places the burden of Lucia’s care on Miranda: “‘Take care of my daughter,’ she said. But she was not looking at him. She was looking at me” (7). Despite Lucia’s engagement, Miranda is still expected to care for her sister as she always has. From the very start of the novel, Miranda is forced to navigate through the boundary between caring for herself and for her sister, which drives the relationship between Miranda and Lucia within the novel. When Ma dies, she leaves Miranda alone to care for Lucia, and Miranda’s obligation to her family becomes a major hindrance in her life. Miranda often finds herself pulled away from her own family in order to step in and care for Lucia, despite Lucia having a family of her own.
Once Lucia and Yonah get married, Miranda can’t help but be skeptical. For many years, Miranda was Lucia’s sole support, and now that there is someone new taking over her role, she worries that Yonah doesn’t truly understand what it will mean to help care for Lucia. She gradually comes to accept Yonah as someone who is good for Lucia when she realizes that they love each other. She notices that Lucia seems genuinely happy and well when she marries Yonah, which eases some of Miranda’s protectiveness.
However, when Yonah calls Miranda for help, Miranda realizes that Lucia has kept her condition a secret: “Maybe she was afraid he wouldn’t understand. Or maybe she’d wanted to believe, as I did, that nightmares could stay forever in the dark” (23). This moment provides insight into the way that Miranda and Lucia both feel about Lucia’s schizophrenia, setting up the theme of The Stigmatization of Mental Health Conditions. Describing it as a “nightmare” shows that Miranda believes it is something that Lucia can “wake” from, or be cured of, which is not strictly true. It also suggests that Lucia feels ashamed of her mental health condition, or that Miranda believes that she does. This reflects the stigmatization against mental illness in society; because Lucia’s condition is misunderstood, and even feared, Lucia has internalized the idea that it should not be spoken of. This creates problems, as it leaves Yonah unaware and unprepared to help Lucia when she needs it.
The Stigmatization of Mental Health Conditions is also present in smaller ways, beyond Lucia. After meeting Manny at the Laundromat, Lucia and Manny walk around the neighborhood, spotting a man known as “El Pollo Loco” who dresses in a chicken suit every day and wanders around the sidewalk:
They said he showed up after the first Gulf war. […] Sometimes El Pollo Loco stopped to talk. Mostly he talked to himself. […] That time I saw his face, it wasn’t old or dirty, he was like handsome, almost, and then a couple of local businesses started paying him to hand out flyers […] places that didn’t even sell chicken, but they made him keep his chicken head on (47).
“El Pollo Loco” represents the way that society treats mental illness as a spectacle. Under the mask, “El Pollo Loco” is a war veteran and looks like anyone else. However, Manny observes that his value lies in his ability to attract attention, which stems from his mental health condition. The restaurants use him to attract customers despite them not having any relation to chicken whatsoever, knowing that people will be drawn over by the man’s behavior and will likely find it entertaining or amusing. Rather than being hired as a “normal” employee, “El Pollo Loco” is used for his condition, which becomes a performance.
The beginning of the book ties the theme of mental health to that of Balancing Self-Care and Family Obligation, emphasizing the difficult balance between caring for a beloved family member and caring for oneself. After Lucia leaves Yonah due to his refusal to have a baby with her, Miranda “[lives her] own life. […] [She cherishes] this luxury of finding contentment in the mundane, revel in it like a guilty pleasure” (34). Despite her love for Lucia, Miranda can’t help but feel that her obligation to her has consumed her. During this period, Miranda chooses self-care, putting her own needs ahead of her sister’s. However, her description of this time as a “guilty pleasure” shows that Miranda is unable to let go of her responsibility toward Lucia completely. She feels guilty for enjoying the time without her, knowing that Lucia might be struggling with no one to look after her. Additionally, Miranda has lived as Lucia’s caregiver for her entire life; she doesn’t know how to live solely for herself, and she feels immense guilt for prioritizing her own needs.
This theme carries on when Stefan asks Miranda to move to Switzerland with him. She considers calling Lucia, but “[she wants] this decision to be [hers], alone” (41). Miranda has to remind herself that she is in charge of her own life, and that she, too, deserves to make choices that benefit only herself. When faced with the possibility of moving away from her sister, she feels she needs permission to do so. Resisting the urge to call Lucia is Miranda’s attempt at putting herself first. Miranda’s desire to care for Lucia and her need to live her own life clash throughout the novel, which strains her relationships with others and causes her emotional distress later on.
Manny also struggles with the burdens of familial obligation. He remembers his mother’s words: “Your brothers are a part of you. […] When one hurts, you all hurt” (55). Like Miranda, Manny tries to balance his obligation to his family with his personal desires and well-being. Manny is expected to marry Lucia so that he can gain his citizenship and bring his younger brother, Fredy, to America for medical treatment. Manny, however, does not love Lucia, which makes him hesitate in asking her to marry him. Though he loves and wishes to care for his family, Manny does not want to be bound to Lucia purely for their sake. Things are further complicated when Manny learns that Lucia needs extra care due to her mental health condition. The pressure Manny feels causes him an extreme amount of stress, and one night, he dreams that his “coffee-stained ceiling collapsed and Lucia and Mami and Susi fell on top of [him]” (90). This is symbolic of the major sources of stress in Manny’s life—the women he is torn between. Manny is exhausted, caring for Essy on his own and worrying about the “migras” taking Susi away. Despite this, Manny decides he will remain strong for his daughter. This is a new family obligation that both helps and limits Manny’s outlook on life.
