Hossein Tanzifi, a young English interpreter for American advisors in Iran, is caught at a crossroads when he witnesses the assassination of an American adviser by thirteen army officers. Hossein, who had no role in the incident, is sentenced to life in prison. Fourteen people were executed for the murder and he is the only one who knows what happened and who is covering it up. Eighteen years later, during the Iranian revolution, Hossein is released from prison and while dodging his own murder, he searches for the one woman who can unveil the truth. The story, as told by this world-famous novelist, is a historical fiction, character-driven novel narrated from different perspectives. It weaves together the plights of characters from opposite hemispheres of the world. It is renowned for being the single most accurate depiction of the social atmosphere of Iran from 1959 to 1979 which led up to the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi through a popular uprising and its replacement with the Islamic Republic of Iran.