The story switches back and forth from the early 1900s when Japanese brides were sent over to California for Japanese husbands and the 1940s during World War II when the Japanese were rounded up into internment camps.

The main character is Sayo, who was sent to California as a bride only to discover that her husband was a weak man addicted to opium. She manages to get financing for a tea house and makes a living at that up until just before the war. At that time she had a brief but powerful relationship with a native American and became pregnant by him just before he disappeared at the time of the San Francisco earthquake.

Her daughter Hana ends up married to an abusive Japanese man and has three children. In the chapters that take place at the internment camp, we are introduced to her three children, but the story mainly focuses on her youngest daughter Terri. Terri has a special relationship with her grandmother Sayo. All three women - Sayo, Hana and Terri - are interesting women, and we observe their journey as they evolve spiritually and emotionally. ( )