"Food and clothing is so plentiful, it grows on trees."
"You will be able to go to school."
Of the three lies the matchmaker told Willow before she left home as a picture bride in 1918, the third hurt the most. Never one to be deterred, Willow does all that she can to make the best of her unexpected circumstance. Life in Hawai'i is hard for the Korean farmers working the fields of the sugarcane and pineapple plantations, and at the laundry, where Willow works an exhausting job with little pay.
Her dreams of are quickly shattered, first by a husband who never wanted to marry her in the first place, and then by the escalation of the Korean independent movements, unified in goal, but divergent in action, which threaten to split the Hawaiian Korean community and divide Willow's family and friends.
Braving the rough waters of these tumultuous years, Willow forges ahead, creating new dreams through her own blood, sweat, and tears, working tirelessly toward a better life for her family and loved ones.
