It is 1975, and the Vietnam War is over. However, for the Hmong of Laos, including Yang’s mother and father, the absence of the Americans means a death warrant for the Hmong. The communist Pathet Lao soldiers and their North Vietnamese allies invade Hmong villages and kill any Hmong who fought with the Americans against communist rule. Most of the Hmong men are dead, and the Hmong women and children are hiding in scattered villages deep within the dense jungles. To be caught by soldiers means death or being forced into a reeducation camp.

Yang’s mother and father meet in 1978. They are teenagers, and their families have been hiding in the jungle for three years. Yang’s mother is educated, having come from a well-off family, and she is exceptionally close to her mother. Yang’s father, on the other hand, is the son of a poor single mother who works as a shaman. Yang explains that, if not for the dire circumstances brought about by the aftermath of war, her parents never would have been married.

After a modest wedding accented by the threat of approaching soldiers, Yang’s mother’s family goes east to climb the mountain, while Yang’s father’s family goes west down the mountain.