A group of Vietnamese working for the CIA is transported to Phu Quoc, a remote island of South Vietnam, awaiting evacuation when the end of the war is imminent. Among the principal characters are TAM, an army doctor who is forced to desert his unit and escape by his older brother whom he reveres, and MAI, an escort girl from Saigon who practices the flesh trade to help her parents feed her eleven siblings. A CIA agent, DAVID, has brought Mai, along with her entire family, to the island.Also on the island are a FAMOUS MUSICIAN who is stuck with his ugly wife after an attempt to leave for America with his mistress was aborted. KIEU, an Assistant Director of a CIA-sponsored black radio station is on the evacuation list along with her poet/high official husband. Along for the ride is the OPIUM-ADDICTED WRITER who will chronicle the saga. WHITE LOTUS follows them to refugee camps and across America as they resettle in different parts of the country as new immigrants. They become Americans but deep down inside they remain Vietnamese.