Content Warning: The source text depicts graphic depictions wartime violence.

An Israeli soldier holds a rifle to Amal’s forehead, and she wonders if, as an American citizen, her death would be considered worth an apology or if she would be classified as collateral damage. She is unafraid of death but feels the soldier’s fear and knows he will not kill her. Her memory takes her back “to a home she had never known” (xiii).

The novel begins with a description of early morning activity in the Palestinian village of Ein Hod. The villagers rise before dawn to pray and then move toward the olive groves to harvest olives.

In the fields at noon, Yehya, the family patriarch, surveys his family’s fertile land and his two hard-working sons with pride. He also observes his old friend and rival, Haj Salem, at work. The family has lunch seated on the ground, sharing the food provided by Basima, the boys’ mother. They pray and give each other their blessing before returning to work.

A few weeks later, Yehya’s son, Hasan, takes their produce to Jerusalem by truck, while his brother, Darweesh, accompanies him on his horse, Ganoosh.