In 1917, at the age of eight, Kenneth Ore's mother was sold to a wealthy Chinese businessman by her opium-addicted father. Rather than becoming a concubine, she was employed as a maid and educated as a doctor. She married the man's son and bore three children. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in 1941, her skill and bravery ensured the family's survival. Having witnessed terrible violence and suffering, the adolescent Ore joined the Chinese Communist Party, which he believed would alleviate the poverty and injustice he saw every day. It was a secret he guarded from his parents and siblings until, disillusioned with the Party, he emigrated to Canada to begin the process of rebuilding his life. Now as Hong Kong struggles to find a place in the People's Republic of China, he reflects on his clandestine life and the painful secrets he kept from his beloved mother.