Eleanor Young

Eleanor Young (née Sung) is the mother of Nick Young and eventual mother-in-law of Rachel Chu in the Crazy Rich Asians book series by Kevin Kwan. Throughout the series, she serves as a secondary character and occasional antagonist.

Background
Eleanor is the wife of Phillip Young and the mother of Nick Young. She is a domineering mother, having spent most of her adult life trying to place Nick as Shang Su Yi's favorite grandson. Eleanor initially rejects Rachel Chu as her son's girlfriend, due to the fact that she believes Rachel does not come from a satisfactory background, and spent most of the first book trying to derail their eventual marriage. She eventually approves of Rachel after finding out that her father, Bao Gaoling, is a Chinese billionaire and politician. However, they still continue to clash many times later in the series over Eleanor's eagerness for a grandchild and frustration over Rachel not getting pregnant.

In her younger days, Eleanor was a commoner until she met Phillip Young in a university and eventually fell for him. Shang Su Yi used to constantly reject her as a part of the Young family, possibly due to her commoner status. The whole conflict in the Crazy Rich Asians movie is probably motivated by Eleanor's jealousy of how Shang Su Yi accepted Rachel so fast to the family, completely contrary compared to how she treated Eleanor back then.

Eleanor's closest friends are Carol Tai, Daisy Foo, Lorena Lim, and Nadine Shaw, all regular members of a Bible Study group ran by Carol Tai. Eleanor is revered by her friends due to her marriage to Phillip Young, who hails from one of the wealthiest and more elite families in Singapore.

Movie
Eleanor, as in the book, is the wife of Phillip Young and the mother of Nicholas Young.

At the beginning of the movie, Eleanor and her sister-in-law, along with a young Nick and Astrid, show up at the Lancaster Hotel in London, tired and wet from walking through the rain. The staff initially reject her because she is Asian, prompting her to call her husband. The wet, soggy family comes back into the hotel and just as they are being threatened that they are going to be escorted out, the owner of the hotel arrived having just hung up with Phillip. He tells the astonished receptionist that he is giving up his family’s long history with the hotel and has just sold it to the Young family.

Years later, Eleanor hears word that her son is bringing a girl to Colin Khoo's wedding to Araminta Lee. Her friends and sisters-in-law believe that it must be very serious, but Eleanor brushes it off as a fling. She then calls Nick to tell him that his girlfriend would be more comfortable at a hotel, and Nick tells her that he and Rachel will be staying together. Eleanor informs him quite sternly that the house is ready for Nick only. Nick hangs up, but before doing so, says that he and Rachel will be staying at a hotel instead.

The next time Eleanor sees Nick and Rachel is at Ah Ma's party at Tyersall Park. Nick introduces her to Rachel while she is overseeing the dinner preparation in the kitchen, and she calmly interrogates Rachel while continuing to speak with the kitchen staff. After, Rachel rightfully regards this as disrespectful and tells Nick that Eleanor hates her. She speaks with Nick later in his old room and assures him that she thinks Rachel is nice while reminding him of his familial obligations. When Rachel meets Ah Ma later that evening, Eleanor looks on in concern as Ah Ma seems to approve of her.

Eleanor sees Rachel again at Ah Ma's house when the family gathers to make dumplings for Colin and Araminta‘s rehearsal dinner. Rachel comments that she likes Eleanor's ring, which seems to hit a nerve. Eleanor chews her out in front of everyone about how, as an American, she doesn’t understand the sacrifices and dedication it takes to build and maintain a strong family and something that lasts. Soon after Ah Ma arrives and tells Eleanor she’s lost her touch for making dumplings, Rachel excuses herself to go to the bathroom and is stopped by Eleanor. Eleanor apologizes to her, saying that she thinks she's been rude and offers to tell her the story about her ring. She tells her how Nick's father, Phillip, had to have it made when he proposed to her because Ah Ma wouldn't give him the family ring. Ah Ma did not think she was good enough for Phillip or the family. Rachel thinks that Ah Ma eventually turned around, but Eleanor says, it took many years and hard work for her to get to where she is and prove that she is enough. She takes a step forward, forcing Rachel down the stairs by one step which puts Eleanor in a dominating stance looking down at Rachel, and tells her that she knows Rachel will never be enough.

At Colin Khoo's wedding reception, Eleanor and Ah Ma call Nick and Rachel over. Ah Ma tells Rachel she will not let her ambition ruin their family. Eleanor explains that she hired a private investigator, and it turns out that Rachel's mother (Kerry Chu) cheated on her husband and became pregnant by another man before fleeing to America before he could find out. They tell Nick that Rachel’s “lies” would reflect poorly on their family and that he needs to stop seeing her. Nick chooses Rachel and runs after her leaving Ah Ma to blame Eleanor for failing as a mother.

Several days later, Eleanor agrees to meet Rachel for a game of Mahjong. Nick has by now told her the truth about Rachel’s mother. While they play, Rachel informs her that Nick has proposed, promising to leave his family behind, but that she said no, not wanting him to resent either her or his mother in the future. She tells Eleanor to remember that someday when Nick marries a woman that’s good enough in Eleanor’s eyes and gives her grandchildren, that it will be because of Rachel and her sacrifice. Rachel lets Eleanor win the game and walks away with her mother who gives Eleanor a long, disapproving look.

Offscreen, Eleanor gives Nick the ring his father gave her as a symbol of her acceptance of Rachel and he uses it to propose. At their engagement party, Rachel gratefully looks at her from across the rooftop and Eleanor looks back, wary but no longer standing in their way.