Character Analysis
Lottie Carson, a movie star for whom Min holds a special fondness, has long been dead before the book begins. The problem is Min doesn't know that. Randomly deciding that a posh-looking old woman at the movie theater must be Lottie, Min builds an elaborate fantasy around throwing her a birthday party. The plan is fanciful, off base, and doomed to fail—much like Min's relationship with Ed. We never actually get to know not-Lottie, so while she's technically a character, she's more like a symbol with legs.