Li-Xia, the daughter of a young concubine to an old silk farmer in rural Chine, escapes her destiny of becoming a concubine by outwitting her father's orders to bind her feet and running away with an English sea captain, and takes her first steps towards fulfilling her mother's dream of becoming a scholar.

Set against the backdrop of developing modern China, a new novel is a coming-of-age tale, part family and social drama, as it follows two generations searching for belonging and opportunity in a rapidly changing world.