Sea of Regret

Stones in the Sea is narrated by the hero of a tragic love affair to dramatize the conflict between the traditional Chinese system of arranged marriage and the wishes of the young people involved.

These themes are expressed with the huge toll on the main couple in the book, Dihua and Bohe who were arranged to be married when they were young.

Dihua puts the ideas of marriage, and the strict moral codes around engaged couples even during the life and death situation of the boxer uprising.

As Dihua is forced to choose between her duty to follow traditional marriage and the vow she is supposed to keep to her fiancé she starts breaking down.

Similarly Dihua works hard throughout the book to keep her idea of family and tries her hardest to keep her ill mother alive.