Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decased later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love move people to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with startling heroism.