In any series focusing on the passage of a girl from childhood to womanhood, the focus almost invariably tends to be on the relationship between the young woman and her partner. Their recognition of their interest in and eventually, desire for, one another takes up a great deal of the narrative. In Color of Heaven, Ehwa's journey to adulthood is told through the shifting relationship she has with her mother - a woman who has chosen the same fate as the one Ehwa now embraces. They both sit and wait for the man they love to return to them to give their lives meaning. Ehwa, at the opening of the book, has already matured beyond her best friend and peer. While the other girl speaks of the men