Summary

Hanh is a dutiful wife and school teacher in a rural Vietnamese village who appears to enjoy a happy marriage. Childless, she insists her husband Phoung, the local school headmaster, take a second wife to bear him a baby. But in the small village, their secret is impossible to keep for long and in the ensuing scandal she and Phuong separate. Following the breakdown of the marriage, Hanh loses her grip on reality and begins to question the very fundamentals of life. Through a friend, she meets a spiritual guide in the guise of an enigmatic fortune teller, who sets about transforming the beleaguered Hanh's life.