Li Fang, a Chinese immigrant who has been living in Montreal for over 10 years. Her infertility and her violent separation from her Quebecois husband, Eric, have pushed her to the brink of despair. Escaping the chaos in Montreal, Li Fang visits her grandfather in Dazu, her birthplace in south China. The support and inspiration provided by her family and an old lover helps her break the impasse in her life.
A young Chinese teacher, Wu Yu, searches for the hit-and-run driver responsible for her mother’s death. As she tries to understand her mother’s faith, Buddhist principles slowly grow in Wu Yu and start appeasing her pain. But her quest for justice soon isolates her from the rest of the world: her husband wants to negotiate a cash compensation, and Buddhist beliefs require her to let go of her demand since destiny should bring justice in the next life. All Wu Yu asks for is to meet the driver face to face. If only she could find him…
As a dizzying heat wave hits Montreal and throws the city into a state of general torpor, the residents of the Saint-Henri neighborhood fall prey to events that reason cannot explain.
