In it, Lin records in lively, evocative, first-person prose her childhood memories, ending with the death of her father, from the eyes of a precocious, impressionable young girl.

For several decades, Lin and her writer husband, Hsia Cheng-ying (夏承楹, pen name He Fan [何凡]), engaged in the threefold work of editing, writing, and publishing, contributing significantly to the promotion of modern Taiwanese literature.

Her protagonists often reflect the characters from the feudal old times she observed, especially women, and her stories, while often poignant, vividly portray the reality of society and the complexity of human nature.

Many authors, including Chi Teng Sheng (七等生) with "Unemployment, Poker, Fried Squid" (失業、撲克、炸魷魚), Cheng Ching-Wen (鄭清文) with "Lonely Heart" (寂寞的心), Huang Chun-ming (黃春明) with "Getting Off at Chengtzu" (城仔下車), and Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) with "Children's Song" (兒歌), published their first works under her editorship at the United Daily News supplement.

[5] Lin Haiyin also encouraged Taiwanese writers who had stopped writing for many years, such as those who wrote in both Japanese rule and post-war eras, to resume their work.