A young mother in the rural Northeast writes magical children's books based on her daughter's adventures. Years later, the mother dies, and her daughter returns to her childhood house to find out whether or not the magical world she played in as a child really exists.

After losing her mother, a young Chinese American girl in New York City struggles to keep the rest of family together and grapples with the loneliness of being the less-loved daughter.

An unassuming American soldier develops a relationship with young woman while he studies art at the Academie in France in the 1950s. He knows nothing of her past he eventually learns more about her past.