Nanjing. 1937. Two families are caught up in a conflict that will forever change their lives. In the summer of 1937, Japan attacks the city of Shanghai and thus begins their brutal campaign of the “three alls” – burn all, loot all, kill all. Like a tidal wave, they burn, loot, and kill all in their path along the Yangtze River. Their campaign ends with the horrendous rape of the city of Nanjing where 300,000 people were murdered and thousands of women raped.

Meizhen and her daughter Xue face these dangers every day. Months of air raids cause the pair to constantly move and seek shelter in an elusive International Safety Zone established by twenty-two westerners who have defied their governments’ orders to leave China.

Meanwhile, the Tan family struggle to stay safe from marauding groups of Japanese soldiers who prowl on the women of Nanjing. Fear and vigilance is the order of the day as the family struggles to search for their son Jun while keeping their teenage daughter Ling safe from Japanese soldiers.