The setting is Iran, 21st century. A bomb blows up a small neighborhood in western Iran, and is traced back to a corrupt professor, who is discovered to be leading an underground publishing system. Because of the increased dangers of the war, an Iranian father decides that the only way to keep his daughter, Darya Hedi, safe is to send her away. Meanwhile, a young man named Soheil Kutchem starts life at the university and decides to write for a local paper. However, the war plagues his neighborhood and school, and he too is forced to find safety elsewhere. The novel explores the life-changing stories of two Iranian teenagers who are forced to find shelter in the shadows of a strange new land, who are forced to find safety in a new life they can barely call their own. On the other side of the world, an American couple decide to adopt a child from overseas. However, they too experience the consequences of the war in Iran. The journey of each character will touch your soul as they discover how to accept change, how to embrace life, and maybe forgive their country as they resurrect memories of personal hardships along the way. These three stories are somehow intertwined, each character's story changing throughout the novel.