现年40多岁的汤姆开始写他 20 世纪 60 年代的童年回忆录，影片跟随汤姆的思绪回顾了他母亲一生的故事。

Rose is een mooie nachtclubzangeres uit Shanghai die in de jaren '70 naar Australië trekt met haar twee kinderen. Ze heeft het niet makkelijk er te overleven en wordt bovendien verliefd op een Chinese illegale immigrant. De man valt echter op Rose haar 16-jarige dochter.

Tom, now in his 40s, begins to write the memoirs of his 1960s childhood, as the little boy whose mother Rose was a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer. When Rose meets Aussie sailor Bill, they are quickly married, and she packs up Tom and his older sister May to head for Melbourne. The marriage just as quickly breaks up and Rose moves with the kids to Sydney. After a succession of male friends and little success, in 1971 Rose moves back to Melbourne, in an uncomfortable arrangement living again with Bill – and his mother. With Bill called away to sea, Rose takes up with young Chinese cook Joe, but despair and conflicts over May's relationship with Joe tear the family further apart. Little Tom is deeply hurt, but May's ongoing conflict with her mother takes a respite when Rose tells her daughter about her traumatic teenage years.

Película narrada a través de la mirada y la voz de una cantante de un prestigioso night club de Hong Kong (interpretada por Joan Chen) que trata de sobrevivir en Australia con sus dos hijos. Es una dramática historia de amor, repleta de traiciones y secretos escondidos que se prolongan a lo largo del tiempo y a través de varios continentes.