Lies and Weddings

The narrative shifts to the present day. Eden Tong and Rufus Gresham have been friends sinch childhood, although they now live very different lives. Via a text message conversation, Rufus learns that Eden has not been invited to the upcoming wedding of his sister, Augusta. The wedding will take place in Hawaii. Rufus was looking forward to seeing Eden in Hawaii and is very surprised and annoyed that his mother, Lady Arabella, has not invited her.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii, Augusta is touring the location where her wedding will take place. Augusta is unhappy because “Mummy designed every square meter of this resort. It’s the new jewel in her hotel empire that she’s waiting to show off to the world” (40). Augusta feels that her mother has always been domineering and controlling, and she resents Arabella. Suddenly, a volcanic fissure appears at the wedding site, causing significant damage to the property.

Eden lives in England with her father, Thomas Tong, close to the beautiful Greshamsbury estate. They both work as physicians. Thomas has been close friends with Francis Gresham, the current Earl, ever since the two were children, although Thomas left England to spend significant time in the US and Hong Kong while he was still studying and building his career.

Thomas’s wife (Eden’s mother) died when Eden was young, and he moved back to England so that he could live close to the Gresham family. As Eden grew up, she was extremely close to Rufus and his two sisters, Augusta and Beatrice.

Now, Thomas is summoned to attend to Lady Arabella (the wife of Francis and the mother of Rufus, Augusta, and Beatrice); she is distraught by the news of the volcanic eruption in Hawaii, since she will now have to alter the plans for the wedding.

Meanwhile, Eden chats with Beatrice, who describes the tension between her mother and sister over the wedding plans. Beatrice reveals that Lady Arabella is insisting on a very formal and traditional event, while Augusta wants “a dreamy beach wedding where she could be barefoot on the sand” (60). When Lady Arabella explains that the changes to the wedding plans now involve buying out every resort on the island, Beatrice seizes the opportunity to suggest that there is now space for Eden and Thomas Tong to be included in the wedding.

An article from a tabloid gossip magazine provides more context into the Gresham family. When Arabella and Francis met, she was a beautiful and wealthy young woman from Hong Kong and was working as a model; they quickly fell in love and married but faced significant resistance and racism because Arabella was Asian while Francis was a “dashing viscount who could trace his lineage back to Edward the Confessor” (73). Nonetheless, Arabella’s creativity and innate sense of style distinguished her as a taste maker, and she was eventually hired to design lavish hotels around the world. She has always had high hopes for her children to marry into elite and wealthy families. Augusta is now engaged to a Norwegian German prince, and everyone assumes that Arabella will soon turn her attention to finding a suitable bride for her only son, Rufus.

Thomas Tong is working as a medical trainee at a hospital in London when he receives word that his brother, Henry, has died in Hong Kong. Thomas rushes home, and as he learns more about the circumstances surrounding Henry’s sudden death, he finds out why Roger was enraged when Henry proposed to Rosina. Henry had been having a secret relationship with Roger’s sister, Mary, who is now pregnant with Henry’s baby. Thomas is saddened but unsurprised by his brother’s callous behavior.

The morning after arriving in Hawaii, Eden is amused to realize that she has been housed alongside the staff who work at Arabella’s resort. She and Rufus reunite, and he shows her the cabin where he is staying on the island. Eden feels lingering guilt about an unnamed event that took place before she arrived in Hawaii.

The narrative flashes back 24 hours earlier to relate that before leaving England for Hawaii, Eden was summoned to meet with Lady Arabella and Beatrice. At this meeting, Lady Arabella explained that she was frustrated that Rufus had not yet married and begun producing grandchildren. Arabella had identified a young French woman named Solene de Courcy as the ideal future wife for Rufus, reasoning that Solene “was born in the right hospital, grew up in the right arrondissement, [and] went to the right schools” (52). Because Solene will be in Hawaii for the wedding festivities, Arabella wanted to enlist Beatrice and Eden in her scheme to cause Rufus to fall in love with Solene. Although she had reservations about this plan, Eden agreed to go along with it.

The narrative returns to the present. In Hawaii, the wedding festivities begin with a lavish sunset party, during which Lady Arabella continues to display controlling behavior, hurting Augusta’s feelings. However, Arabella is soothed by the arrival of Solene, who is stunningly beautiful and seems to connect with Rufus.

The next day, Eden and Beatrice travel to join a larger group (one that will include Solene and Rufus), at which point they will all embark on a whale-watching excursion. Beatrice explains that in order to further incentivize Rufus to pursue Solene, she and Arabella have invited a dashing young man named Freddy Farhan-Farmihian. Freddy is infatuated with Solene, and they hope that the threat of a rival will motivate Rufus to actively pursue a romantic interest in Solene.

Tensions surface during the whale-watching excursion when the narcissistic, arrogant Freddy misbehaves. To make matters worse, Eden becomes violently seasick. Solene is annoyed by the concern that both Freddy and Rufus display for Eden. She fumes that she cannot “fathom why Rufus and Freddy [are] paying so much attention to a girl dressed like a deckhand” (145).

Meanwhile, Thomas and Francis meet for a quiet lunch. Francis asks Thomas to arrange another loan for him, which worries Thomas. Thomas is “the only person in the world who had the full picture of the earl’s finances, and he wished he’d never been made aware of them” (150). Thomas has been brokering loans for Francis from Rene Tan, a billionaire businessman. He is nervous about asking for another loan because Rene is severely ill with cancer.

Eden recovers from her seasickness in a luxurious room. She and Thomas are scheduled to attend a costume party that evening on a mountain summit.

Eden and the other guests attend an even more lavish party that features an enormous ice palace. Rosina Leung hosts the party (Rosina is married to Arabella’s brother). During the party, Eden spends time talking with Freddy and is surprised to form a more positive impression of him. Although “she has presumed Freddy was just another boring rich kid, […] there was clearly more to him than met the eye” (178). Arabella is satisfied as she watches Solene and Rufus spending more time together, but other guests notice that Rufus seems to be interested in Eden.

After the party, Eden goes back to Rufus’s cabin. Rufus is secretly fantasizing about Eden, and when she queries him about Solene, he reveals that he is largely unimpressed with Solene. Eden spends the night, but the two only have platonic interactions.

Freddy, Solene, Eden, and Rufus go to a beautiful and isolated surfing spot, where Eden recalls a memory of how Rufus once playfully proposed to her when they were children. When Rufus and Freddy show too much attention to Eden, Solene purposefully injures herself so that everyone will fawn over her.

Solene’s plan backfires when Freddy and Rufus are both deeply impressed by Eden’s calm, competent use of her medical training to address Solene’s injury. Freddy and Eden continue to bond as they share memories of losing their mothers during their childhood. Freddy also admits that he is becoming much less interested in Solene. Meanwhile, Rufus keeps an eye on the interaction between Freddy and Eden and grows increasingly worried and jealous.

Back at the hotel, Eden is annoyed when she is mistaken for a staff member; to many of the guests, “she was just another interchangeable Asian staffer who would bring them their drinks” (219). Impulsively, Eden chooses a more flamboyant and striking outfit than she would typically wear.

At the wedding ceremony that night, Rufus initially doesn’t recognize Eden. The ceremony begins in the traditional and stately fashion that Lady Arabella planned, but Max (the groom) and Augusta shock the guests by changing into casual beach attire.

Arabella and Augusta have a fierce argument, with Arabella accusing her daughter of embarrassing the family and making a fool of herself. After the argument, Arabella uses a bathroom nearby and finds a positive pregnancy test in the trash. A staff member informs her that the bathroom is attached to Eden’s room. Having observed the interactions between Freddy and Eden, Lady Arabella wonders whether Eden could be having an affair with Freddy; she also wonders if Eden is pregnant with Freddy’s child.

At the wedding banquet, Francis pulls aside Max’s father to ask if he can have a loan, and he is horrified to discover that Max’s family has no money. In fact, Max’s family is relieved that Max has married into the Gresham family, which they perceive as being very wealthy. As Rufus prepares to give a wedding speech, Arabella tells him about her hopes that he will fall in love with Solene. Arabella also alludes to a relationship between Eden and Freddy, based on what she has surmised.

Rufus rushes to confront Eden and tells her that he has no interest in Solene and has always been in love with Eden. He then kisses her passionately. However, neither Eden nor Rufus realizes that his microphone has already been turned on, so all of the guests hear him profess his love. The banquet is interrupted with the news that another volcanic fissure has opened, and lava is now rushing toward them. Everyone is urgently evacuated.