In the spring of 2005, a mother living in Hanoi receives a diary of her late daughter, a young doctor working at a field hospital during the war. Kept for over thirty years by an American veteran, the diary is an account of her life spanning two years, from April 1968 until her death in June 1970.

A young songstress begins to receive a mysterious, austere guest who lodges overnight at her inn.

Toward the end of 1946, residents from all walks of Hanoi struggle to avoid—and eventually accept—the possibility of a full-blown war.