After her life is all but destroyed by personal tragedy, Laura Bowman, a young American physician, decides to protect herself from any further painful human contact. Travelling through Asia with her sister, she is virtually immune to the charms, and challenges, of this beautiful but beleaguered part of the world. But when she unexpectedly finds herself stranded in the Burmese capital of Rangoon, Laura is suddenly in the midst of a city torn apart by oppression and dissent. No longer able to remain one of life's "tourists," Laura begins a journey beyond the city, and beyond her own personal borders. It is a journey that will take her to the very heart of a nation that is, like herself, in crisis.