Jennifer Sahary an American artist and her husband Karim a professor and Iranian immigrant make an extended visit to Teheran shortly after the IranIraq War encountering unforeseen dangers and sexual temptations that change the course of their lives.When their young son is taken by his grandmother to the holy city of Qom without Jennifers knowledge she sets out to find him learning much about Iran and about herself along the way. And as Karim renews with his family and surveys the misery and needs of his wartorn country he begins to question where he can best achieve his ideals.In sensuous and elegant prose Rachlin weaves the interlinking stories of a man and a woman and their contrasting cultures with balance and sympathy.One can learn a lot from this novel . .