Although Foul Lady Fortune might be considered a young adult fantasy novel, it’s also grounded in China’s history during the 1930s. At that time, the country was suffering an identity crisis. The West had been trading with China for hundreds of years and had exerted an effect on its culture and values. Additionally, Japan was making incursions into the north of the country in its quest for resources to feed its new industrial economy. The novel mentions the Japanese conquest of Manchuria in 1931, which effectively began the pattern that eventually led to World War II a decade later. Aside from European colonialism and Japanese imperialism, the Chinese themselves were transitioning from a monarchy, leaving the people conflicted about whether to choose democracy or Communism as an alternative form of government.

All these macro-level issues are expressed in the behavior of the book’s major characters. Rosalind and her family are emerging from a period when powerful gangs ruled Shanghai. She’s a survivor of a destructive gangland war between the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers that left most of her family dead. Her own collusion with Dimitri Voronin is largely responsible for the catastrophe. After being disowned by her family, Rosalind is no longer sure who she is or where she fits in the new social order of Shanghai.