Le Ly Hayslip is a girl growing up in a Vietnamese village. Her life changes when the Communism insurgents show up in the village to first fight the forces of France and then the United States. During the Vietnam War, Le Ly is captured and tortured by South Vietnamese government troops, and later raped by the Viet Cong because they suspect that she is a traitor. After the rape, her relationship with her village is destroyed, and she and her family are forced to move.