The novel is a vivid, kaleidoscopic portrait of a household in Casablanca, Morocco. The story follows Nadine Alam, a physician and housewife whose life is thrown into disarray by a failing marriage, her daughter’s silence, and the mysterious disappearance of her housekeeper, Ghalia. When Nadine receives an anonymous envelope containing a news clipping about a single mother and her newborn son, she embarks on a search that uncovers a hidden Casablanca and delves into her own family’s past and Morocco’s complex history.