The lives people yearn for are not always what they receive, and Meyer explores this notion is in great detail, scouring the darkest times in humanity for bits of beauty, moments of higher truth. Set in an alternate history and paralleling the events of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, this heartbreaking work follows Veata, a young Khmer woman thrust to the forefront of a tumultuous world. A haunting tale of the stark reality of life under a dictator that profiles many of the people affected by his reign as well as the dictator himself, this work can be compared to nothing less than Camus' tragedies. D.F. Meyer's first novel is a painstaking and thoughtful reflection on the fractured beauty of life under extreme duress not to be found missing on any bookshelf.