Content Warning: This guide section contains discussions of substance misuse, suicide, sexual violence, and the loss of a child.

In 2016, Nazperi “Peri” Nalbantoğlu is stuck in Istanbul’s traffic, with her almost 13-year-old daughter, Deniz, in the passenger seat. Mother and daughter bicker with each other, as they have recently begun doing with Deniz approaching adolescence. They are running late to a dinner party at a wealthy businessman’s house. Deniz steps out of the car to stretch her legs, and Peri lights a cigarette. She then throws the cigarette out of the window and notices a “tramp” pick it up.

A couple of children approach the car, begging for money, and Peri and Deniz both turn their heads away. However, Peri places her handbag into the back seat of the car, forgetting the doors are unlocked. The children steal the bag from the back just before the traffic light turns green. A screaming Peri immediately pulls over and begins chasing them, leaving Deniz with instructions to stay put in the car.

The narrative flashes back to the 1980s. Peri’s family lives on Mute Poet Street on the Asian side of Istanbul. Peri is the youngest of three children, with her two older brothers already in their teens when she was born.