Fleeing an arranged marriage in China, the independent Peony signs a contract to work as a âflower girlâ in America, where she meets Tom, an American Born Chinese cook whose father works on the Transcontinental Railroad. Thwarted by a Hong Kong Triad boss seeking to extend his power into America, theirs is the tale of the first great Chinese immigration to the United States â a story of romance, bigotry, passion, food and a search for everlasting love â set against the largest mass lynching in American history, in Los Angelesâ Chinatown, in 1871.