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Personality Development witnessed in 'A Spy in the House' by Y.S. Lee

Personality Development witnessed in A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee

-  Kiren Bakhru

Young Adult Fiction would not be 'YA' without a journey to find yourself, however shrouded in fantasy and mystery it may be. This is a genre that hopes to attract a transitioning audience; metamorphosing into an independent individual. Hence, it is no surprise that the lead protagonist of such novels finds himself/herself thrust suddenly into a new world, and one of the major themes is this character’s struggle to find his/her place in such an environment. 

A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee is the story of a young orphan who is rescued by what is arguably a feminist school and trained to be a spy. Her story begins as a street urchin surviving the polluted streets of London while attempting to become closer to her heritage as the daughter of a Chinese sailor. She is toughened by the streets and strong willed without being foolishly heroic; selfish without being callous. Her first mission brings her closer not only to a mystery evading the Scotland Yard but also to her own past, as is a recurring theme in Young Adult novels. This spy, Mary Quinn, is mentored by the Scrimshaw academy, by two self-assured and powerful women, ideal role models really. She is shown to be nervous around them and aspires to impress them while also showing her gratitude. She imitates them in certain aspects of her undercover job which involves being a mistress in the household. However, she never considers her own roots till they eventually catch up to her in the form of a lead in a sailor’s home. 

While an accurate time period for the book is not mentioned, it is supposed to be set in the late Victorian period, a time of prejudice against both women and foreigners, bordering on exclusion and leaning into fetishization. Mary has the slight advantage of inheriting European features from her Irish mother but still stands out for not having the ideal blonde hair and pink skin. Balancing autonomy and love, she is forced to hide an important part of herself from the first person she has allowed herself to trust. She displays characteristic wit as a defense and uses her words to sidetrack conversations from her. While she is smart and capable, she is in a way dissociated from herself in a way similar to her disguise as a spy. 

Through the course of the novel, she also loses some of her misandrist conviction and forms an alliance with an engineer, James. She is wary of him as his perception of her remains that of a mistress, but does not let her experiences with other men cloud her judgement. In her investigation with him, she sees the Chinese community though a whitewashed gaze as an opium den. The novel does not shy away from being a commentary on white influence in shaping eastern stereotypes and attempts to break down clichés without being too political. Through Mary, it also takes a chance to talk about the intersection of femininity and culture; the disadvantages of both in a biased society and how they can be used as an advantage. Mary’s past serves as a subplot to strengthen the themes of the novel which include the marginalization of women, slandering of minorities, corruption and influence, and the economic divide. 

At the end of the mystery element of the story, Mary remains a confident and sensible woman. She is made aware of certain memorabilia from her father and wishes to indulge her curiosity. At the same time, she is shown to be warmer, a contrast to the usual growth which involves the protagonist to be more wary of their surroundings. While this is not a coming of age story, Mary is more comfortable with her identity at the end of the book and assertive of her uniqueness. As with most Young Adult novels, the aim is to connect with readers at a point in their lives where they must determine what kind of people they are meant to be. Through Mary Quinn, one realizes that this dilemma is not something that suddenly erupts at a certain age as a rite of passage but is rather something that we are aware of the entire time before we start to view it from a desired perspective.

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