Rich People Problems

Nick is Su Yi’s grandson and the son of Su Yi’s only son, Philip, and his wife, Eleanor. After marrying the American Rachel, against the wishes of his grandmother, Nick becomes an outcast within his own family and, for a time, loses his position as the presumed heir to Tyersall Park. His cousin, Eddie Cheng, vies with him to gain favor with their grandmother so that he can inherit the property instead.

Nick, unlike his mother and cousins, is unconcerned with opulence and leads a relatively modest live. He works as a history professor in New York City. His character is a foil for Eddie, who is envious of his grandmother’s fondness for Nick.

Astrid is the beautiful and glamourous granddaughter of Su Yi, and the daughter of Su Yi’s eldest child, Felicity, and Felicity’s husband, Harry Leong. Harry is the chairman emeritus of the Institute of ASEAN Affairs and head of S.K. Leong Holdings Pte Ltd, which owns a major bank, a mining company, a newspaper, and a large commodity trader. Astrid is a cousin to the most privileged families in Singapore and was educated in London and Paris. She is friends with former European royals, top fashion designers, famous artists, and international celebrities, including Tilda Swinton.

Astrid is in her late-thirties and was married to Michael Teo, a handsome venture capitalist, with whom she has a son named Cassian. She and Michael separate, allowing her to resume a relationship with her true love from her university days, Charlie Wu.

By the end of the novel, Astrid realizes that she has been living her life according to the expectations of her family, particularly her parents. She leaves Singapore for Palawan, a remote island in the Philippines, where she couples her glamour with her desire to foment social change and starts a line of sustainable clothing. Charlie joins her there; they never marry but maintain a partnership. 

Eddie is the materialistic grandson of Su Yi who lavishes attention on his grandmother in her final days to convince her to leave Tyersall Park to him. Eddie is the son of Su Yi’s youngest daughter, the diplomatic and unmaterialistic Alix, and her husband Dr. Malcolm Cheng. Eddie is married to Fiona Tung and, with her, has three children—Constantine, Kalliste, and Augustine. Eddie has a nominal position as global senior executive vice chairman of Global Private Banking at the Liechtenburg Group—a wealth management firm. He is a rival to Nick, who is favored by their grandmother.

Eddie’s greed and insatiable need for status reveal deep insecurity. He exhibits selfish, inconsiderate, and mean behavior toward his mother and his wife, whom he cheats on. His relationship with his father is formal and distant. Ironically, he resents his mother for marrying Dr. Cheng instead of someone with inherited wealth. By the end of the novel, Eddie has an emotional breakdown, which restores him to his family’s good graces. He and his wife mend their frayed relationship after Eddie agrees to go to therapy, and Eddie abandons his materialist obsessions in favor of tending to the quality of his relationships with relatives.

Victoria is the second-youngest daughter of Su Yi and James Young. Victoria is a dowdy, sexually-repressed woman who has never married. She is supposedly a devout Christian, though her interest in the faith is largely influenced by her attraction to clergymen and her belief that being Christian makes her more civilized. She is also an Anglophile, intent on moving to London after her mother’s death.

While Su Yi was alive, Victoria was the only one of her children who still lived at Tyersall Park. Her haughtiness earned her the nickname “Her Imperial Highness.” Victoria has long resented her only brother, Philip, for his favored status as Su Yi’s only son. Victoria’s devotion to her mother seems less motivated by a desire to care for Su Yi than to prove herself equally, if not more, worthy of her mother’s love than Philip. 

Alfred is Su Yi’s brother and the husband of Mabel. He spends most of his time at Harlinscourt—his 6,000-hectare estate in Surrey, England. Alfred and Mabel have three sons—all Oxbridge educated, and all married to English women. Alfred and his wife opt to spend most of their time in England to be closer to their children and grandchildren, including Scheherazade, who has a home in Paris. 

Charlie is the Hong Kong-born owner of the major tech firm, Wu Microsystems, which manufactures smartphone parts. He was the husband of Isabel Wu and the father of their two children, Chloe and Delphine. He has always been in love with Astrid and becomes engaged to her during a trip to India, though the couple end up not marrying. Instead, Charlie relocates to the Philippines with Astrid and occupies his time teaching children his STEM skills.

Despite having immense wealth, the Wus are regarded as nouveau riche and, therefore, are not respected by Singapore’s oldest families, which is what prevented him and Astrid from marrying after their first engagement. Charlie is down-to-earth and unconcerned with status symbols. His unaffected manner and appearance play a major role in what attracts Astrid to him. In this regard, Charlie differs greatly from her family and her first husband, Michael Teo.

Kitty is the 34-year-old wife of Jack Bing—one of the world’s wealthiest men—and the former wife of Bernard Tai. With Bernard, she had her daughter, Gisele, and with Jack, she gave birth to the billionaire’s first and only son, Harvard.

Kitty is materialistic, petty, and desperate for an elevated social status that would place her above her nemesis and stepdaughter, Colette Bing, the Countess of Palliser. She is also driven, dedicated to her children, and expresses a desire to do some good, such as when she invests in the reinvention of Tyersall Park and installs Buddha heads.

Kitty was born Pong Li Li in Qinghai, China to a pair of sanitation workers. Her mother was born to an educated middle-class family, but they were banished to the countryside during Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward Campaign. Her mother’s ostracism didn’t diminish her sense of the importance of education, however. She encouraged Kitty to understand that schooling offered the best way to advance. Kitty studied hard enough to be at the top of her class and scored highest on her state exams, only to have her one chance at a university spot taken away by a well-connected boy who secured the only spot to university offered to their entire district.

Refusing to give up, Kitty moved to Shenzhen to work at a KTV bar as a sex worker. She then moved to Hong Kong, where she had a small role on a soap opera. She used her position as the director’s mistress to turn the part into a recurring role. She briefly dated Alistair Cheng who took her to the wedding of Colin and Araminta Khoo. Kitty counts Araminta as her best friend. At the wedding, Kitty met Bernard Tai and soon eloped with him to Las Vegas. At the funeral of Bernard’s father, she met Jack Bing. She quickly divorced Bernard and married Jack.

To ensure that Colette, newly anointed as an English aristocrat, doesn’t buy Tyersall Park, Kitty becomes a major investor in the plan to turn the property into a hotel and museum.