It is a family saga beginning during the Vietnam War. It is centered on the many hardships encountered by an American soldier and a North Vietnamese soldier, their eventual encounter/love affair, and their attempts to escape from the raging conflict. The help from family and friendly forces/entities plays a key part in their survival. The story line begins with Max, the husband of the heroine, Quyen, undergoing a dangerous operation to remove a bullet that lodged next to his spine twenty-five years ago during the Vietnam War. His granddaughter, Sarah, overhears her distraught grandmother say that she shot Max. This comment causes Sarah to pester continually the members of the family about what happened. The story slowly unfoldsthe telling of Quyens work as a nurse in an underground hospital, the capture of Max, their love affair, doctoring the tribal people, having a baby, riding the gunship to Saigon, hiding in a convent, and eventually escaping to Hong Kong. Max gets separated from Quyen, is captured, and spends the rest of the war in a prison camp. Quyen sends a letter to Maxs sister, Elizabeth, telling her who she is and that Max is alive. This information startles Elizabeth, and she raises a ruckus with the military until they recognize Max is alive. Eventually Max and Quyen are reunited. The mystery of who shot Max remains a secret.
