From the author of the bestselling "The Good Women Of China", this uplifting story follows three Chinese sisters who leave their peasant community to seek their fortune in the big city. Brought up in a society that favours sons over daughters, their father believes women are like chopsticks: utilitarian and easily broken. Both a human story and the story of Nanjing, its past, customs and culture, this is a riveting vision which takes us to the heart of modern China.