'A heart-breaking, moving, and soaring novel' NGUYỄN PHAN QUẾ MAI 'Gorgeous and expansive' STYLIST Hong Kong, 1941. Following the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, the wealthy Tang family flee to Hong Kong. As the First Wife of the family, Mingzhu leads a sheltered - if lonely - existence overseeing her daughter Qiang and managing the household alongside her devoted maid, Biyu. But when the Japanese army invade, the three women are scattered. Mingzhu is coerced into working for a Japanese captain. Qiang and Biyu escape the island, only to be forced into factory work then separated after an encounter with the East River Column Resistance fighters.