It explores the coming-of-age of a young woman and is retold through a series of the main character's recollections and inner thoughts which focus on her identity, sexuality, and relationships.
[1] Considering the early death of her father and the busy work life of her mother, Duomi is isolated from her parents from a young age.
[1] At age nineteen, Duomi begins her career as a writer and leaves her hometown to pursue work at a film production unit.
[1] At thirty years old, Duomi moves to Beijing and meets her second lover, but eventually settled for a loveless marriage with an older man.
[2] The decision of the publisher to attach a picture of a nude woman as its cover solidified its notorious reputation and the book would go on to sell tens of thousands of copies.
[2] However, other critics have since praised the novel as a great work of feminist literature for its detailed and truthful depiction of women's experiences and the ways it "implicitly critiques society’s sexual mores and conformity" by describing its main character's fear of same-sex attraction, which is the product of being socialized from a homophobic and heteronormative society.