A Chinese mother and daughter wrestle with the demons of their past. The mother, once a student Red Guard leader in 1960s Shanghai and a journalist at a state newspaper, was involved in a brutal act of violence during the Tiananmen Square protests and lost all hope for her country. The daughter is a student at an American university on a mission to become a true Westerner. She tirelessly erases her birth identity, abandons her Chinese suitor, and pursues a white love interest, all the while haunted by the scars of her upbringing. 
Following China’s meteoric rise, the mother is slowly dragged into a nationalistic perspective that stuns the daughter. Their conflicts and final confrontation result in tragic consequences, exposing the constant tension Chinese immigrants face – the push and pull between the pressure of assimilation and the allure of Chinese nationalism. How does unresolved political trauma lead to internalized racism and eroded identities? What’s the path to genuine belonging in a hostile geopolitical climate?
By turns wry and lyrical, The Immortal Woman is a generational story of heartbreak, resilience, yearning, and ultimately, hope, offering a rarely seen insider’s view of the fractured lives of the new Chinese immigrants and those they leave behind. (Editor)