Warrior Toma Nicolescu, having been sent by Catherine the Great to Moldavia to protect the Cantemir family, develops a relationship with Lucine, and, when Vlad van Valerik begins to court the young woman, Toma starts to think Vlad's intentions are not pure and struggles to determine if there is any truth behind his belief or if it is caused by jealousy.

A novel set against the three decades of Afghanistan's history shaped by Soviet occupation, civil war, and the Taliban, which tells the stories of two women, Mariam and Laila, who grow close despite their nineteen-year age difference and initial rivalry as they suffer at the hand of a common enemy: their abusive husband.