A true story of love, betrayal, and healing, The Girl from Purple Mountain begins with a mystery: The Chai family matriarch, Ruth Mei-en Tsao Chai, dies unexpectedly and her grieving husband discovers that she had secretly arranged to be buried alone-rather than in the shared plots they had purchased together years ago. In this extraordinary and moving family epic set against the shifting tides of twentieth-century China, Ruth's first-born son, Winberg, and his daughter, May-lee, explore family history to reconstruct her life as they seek to understand her fateful decision.