In this critically acclaimed memoir, Lim lays bare the turns in her early life in wartorn Malaysia, from wealth and security to poverty and family violence. Her struggles to fashion a meaningful life that will include professional achievement and a self-determined sexuality take her on a journey across cultural and geographical borders. In time, she moves from a numbered isolation to a self-forged identity as an Asian American, aware of her relationship to the land she left behind, her new homeland, and the homeland she carries within herself.