Vignettes describe a journey from a palatial residence in Saigon to a crowded and muddy Malaysian refugee camp, and onward to a new life in Quebec. There, the young girl feels the embrace of a new community, and revels in the chance to be part of the American Dream. As an adult, a mother of two sons, she must learn to shape her love around the younger boy's autism. Some descriptions of sex and violence. Winner of the 2010 Governor General's Literary Award for French fiction.