With remarkable poise and elegant, precise prose, Kamal explores identity and exile, hope and disillusionment, and the myriad fault lines in the lives of the people living in the shadow of war. Zari Zoon, a young and vivacious girl from Kashmir, is looking forward to a bright future when the raging conflict in the region reaches her family home. In the space of a single evening Zari suffers immeasurable tragedy. Within days she is alone and on a plane to America. Her distant family relatives, the Nabis, offer her a temporary home and try to understand, but the horror of that evening continues to haunt Zari as she attempts to stitch back the tatters of her life in a strange new country.