'Winnie Louis and Helen Kwong have kept each other'ssecrets since they met as young brides in China in the 1930s. in San Francisco, Winnie and Helen start all over again, with happy marriages, children and work at the Ding Ho Rower Shop. Then Helen becomes convinced she is dying and decides to unburden herself of all secrets before the Chinese New Year, so she can fly off tO heaven without shame. BUt her secrets are also winnie's,soWinnie sits down with her daughter Pearl and some long-harboured terrible facts: about her first marriage to an evil man and how that evil man was Pearl's father... A poignant confession. The novel'smomentum may be purgative but its telling,written with a mesmersing beauty,is pure delight.