Pearl S. Buck combines her beloved China and native America in a sensitive drama of human relationships and conflicting emotions in a world of changing attitudes. Malcolm MacNeil, an American diplomat is forced to leave Peking when the Communists take over. He returns home with his White Russian wife, and their two children, to face new problems. Sheltered by an idyllic marriage, Nadya counters hostility and suspicion with warm-hearted candor as her China-born son and daughter strive not to be different from their friends and Malcolm seeks to bring about a closer relationship between East and West.