Ten-year-old Lizhi arrives in Singapore to meet her father’s family after he dies in an accident. Aunt Mona, his sister, is rude and strange and does little to make her feel at home.

Lizhi struggles to make sense of this new place in which her only friend is the young Indonesian maid, Bwe Bwe.

Then one day she discovers a beautifully carved mudskipper in a house that is full of forgotten objects, neglected furniture and locked rooms. What other secrets will Lizhi uncover? And who is the mysterious person she sees in the garden?