Paul West deftly illuminates the plight of intellectuals and artists during the Japanese occupation of China in this story of a young woman who must transform herself completely in order to survive. Scald Ibis, the properly-reared daughter of a Chinese scholar, is forced to work as a prostitute in a bordello as she changes slowly and painfully from girl to woman. When her father reappears in her life, she must deal with his inner demons as well as her own. A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.