By 1886 many of Eliza Jane McCully's neighbors are concerned that the growing immigrant Chinese population is threatening their comfortable way of life. But it is a young Chinese boy named Wah Chung who saves Eliza and her pet goat from being swept into the sea by a deadly wave. This makes Eliza wonder: Are the Chinese really people to be feared, as her father and their neighbors believe? Or are the Chinese immigrants people with whom the townspeople in Crescent City could live peaceably, with a little tolerance and understanding?

Award-winning novelist Fletcher brings readers back to 1886, when Chinese immigrants flooded into California towns like Crescent City, home to Eliza Jane McCully. When Eliza's life is saved by a young Chinese boy, her perceptions of the immigrants begins to change.