1952, French Indochina. Half-Vietnamese Nicole has always been living in the shadow of her beautiful older sister, Sylvie. When Sylvie is handed control of the family silk business, Nicole is given an abandoned silk shop in the Vietnamese quarter of Hanoi. Here, for the first time, Nicole is awakened to the corruption of colonial rule - and her own family's involvement shocks her to the core... War, secrets and an unbearable choice.