 Watkins's book takes place in the last days of 35 years of Korea's annexation by Japan.An eleven-year-old Japanese girl, Yoko Kawashima, whose father works for the Japanese government, must leave her home in Nanam, part of northern Korea, as her family escapes south to Seoul, then to Busan, to return to Japan.The story begins with Yoko Kawashima (and her mother, brother and sister) living in Nanam.