When Belle Yang has to take shelter at her parents' house to hide out from a violent ex-boyfriend, she's confronted with conflict as her father berates her for what she must've done to bring the situation on herself. But during breaks from the fighting Belle's father ZuWu starts to tell her the story of his family in Manchuria going back to the 19th century through the late 20th. Belle starts to write and draw these stories and builds a new closeness with her father as she learns about his grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, and the hardships they faced during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and under Communist rule. The story holds your attention and gives a unique glimpse at historical events.

The art is told in stark black and white that sometimes conveys a sense of brushwork and sometimes looks like linocut prints, though I think it's hand drawn. The style seems to be deliberately a bit messy and childish, which makes it a bit hard to follow in a couple of points. The story about the man who's stalking Belle never fully resolves and it's hard to imagine that even what her father had been through made his views on it okay, but I appreciate that life and relationships are messy and don't always offer a clean, just ending.