"The story of Rooster, Shadow, and Mei Ju, who become fast friends while members of a girls' house, where young daughters are taught to become daughter-in-law. These girls, however, want neither to marry nor to become nuns (the only options open to them at the time). They choose instead to support themselves through their skills in embroidery and silk production. Though ostracized by their families, attacked, and barely able to find sustenance and shelter, these sze saw, or self-combers as they would come to be called, manage to create lives that they alone control."--Jacket.