We meet "the Man," a U.S. Immigration officer who wants to deport Mulberry and Peach, who are two personalities of the same person. Mulberry has escaped from China after political turmoils there. We learn that she was only a young person when the trouble began with the government. Back in China she was literally arrested for looking too much like she might be a Communist, and then was made to witness horrific treatment of herself and other prisoners.
In America, she develops a new personality, a counterpart named Peach who is defiantly Americanized. In the same way she sees proud American woman speaking their mind and trusting in their opinion, Peach does that with Mulberry's point of view. She writes letters to the Man who is always just behind her trying to find her and deport her.
In Mulberry's diary, she reveals that she struggles to say goodbye to her Chinese heritage. She wrestles with the sad irony of these problems, noticing that in a way, her opportunity at a normal Chinese life was stolen from her by the political interests of powerful government officials in China. She writes about corruption, and Peach writes about American corruption in her bold letters to the Man. In the end, the two personalities come to a head, and they struggle for expression. She decides she cannot be two people at once, and she leaves behind the past, pushing forward.
