Ashanti

Avasarala's daughter, whose grief over her brother's death broke into a haunting compulsion her father sang her out of.

Story so far

Ashanti is Avasarala and Arjun's daughter, mother of Kiki and Suri. Aboard the Guanshiyin, Avasarala recalls the aftermath of her son Charanpal's death, when a grieving Ashanti suffered worst amid her parents' near-constant fighting. One night Avasarala and Arjun came home late from an argument to find Ashanti compulsively scrubbing already-clean dishes by hand with a harsh abrasive cleanser, fingers bleeding, oblivious — screaming when Avasarala tried to pull her away and refusing to stop.

In a moment Avasarala confesses she hated her own daughter. It was Arjun who saved the night, sitting on the counter and singing every childhood song for three hours until Ashanti quieted and let him tuck her into bed — while Avasarala, unable to reach her, hated him too for being able to. Avasarala now sees Ashanti's uncompromising rigidity mirrored in Bobbie Draper, the reason the Marine both grates on and moves her.

Appearance

No physical description is given beyond a warm familial resemblance to her mother; recalled here as a bleeding-fingered, compulsively scrubbing girl in the grip of grief.

Role

Avasarala's daughter, whose grief-driven compulsion after her brother's death haunts her mother's empathy.

Relationships

Avasarala — Her mother, who once hated her in a moment of helpless grief and now sees her in Bobbie.

Arjun — Her father, who sang her out of her breakdown for three hours when her mother could not reach her.

Charanpal — Her late brother, whose death triggered the grief that broke her.

Bobbie Draper — The uncompromising Marine who reminds Avasarala painfully of her.

Sources — 2 recorded facts, by chapter

Chapter 13

Avasarala and Arjun's daughter, mother of Kiki and Suri, who visits from Novgorod.

Chapter 36

Avasarala's daughter, whose grief over her brother's death broke into a haunting compulsion her father sang her out of.