In 1936 Malaysia, Lu See is ordered to marry a fat, one-eyed banker whom she loathes. Instead, she flees the Juru river for Cambridge and the dream of becoming her country's first female undergraduate. When the dream dissolves in tragedy only her life-sustaining friendship with the Tibetan maid, Sum Sum, saves her; but then Sum Sum disappears.

In 1936 Malaysia, Lu See is ordered to marry a fat, one-eyed banker whom she loathes. Instead she flees the Juru river for Cambridge and the dream of becoming her country's first female undergraduate. When the dream dissolves in tragedy only her life-sustaining friendship with the Tibetan maid Sum Sum saves her.