A candid and intimate story of a courageous woman, where Mei talks directly to you. It is often harsh, but with gentle prose; The boat of my life seemed to navigate directly towards the Island of Death; dark clouds rolled in, black waves flooded....

The backdrop; in China and Germany; her partner (the father of her son) having an affair with her sister; and of course, stage four cancer.

• Shows the capacity for humans to prevail against cancer and emotional trauma
• Interesting times; China's massive development and the SARS virus ; The wall coming down in Germany
• Dotted with beautiful prose
• Contains wonderful paintings
• Philosophica