This family saga is set within the framework of the tumultuous events of 20th-century China. Anhua (little flower) is the daughter of two revolutionary martyrs who leave her and her three siblings orphaned. This is the story of her extraordinary life in this vast and contradictory country. She, like many thousands, suffers under the swinging opinions of the powers that be - finding herself one moment favoured by the authorities and her peers and then denounced and imprisoned.