When cultures clash, when worlds collide, when civil unrest provokes personal upheaval, established roles and values are the first casualties of independence as individuals become entangled in extraordinary events. Beginning in the newly established nation of Malaysia in the late 1960s and stretching to America and Singapore 20 years later, Lim’s coming-of-age novel traces the development of Li An, a young, rebellious Chinese woman struggling to find her own place in the world while her fledgling nation strives to forge a unique identity from its contentious, multicultural heritage. Thrown into this melange is Chester, an American Peace Corps volunteer whose friendship Li An relies on as she questions her marriage, her career, and her place in a society that has traditionally limited women’s roles. Their alliance sets in motion disruptive changes with unresolved conflicts that neither time nor geography can diminish. Lim’s novel is dominated by strong, independent, and goal-oriented women wrestling with individual development issues within the larger framework of a society also in transition.