We are introduced to Mark Miller, the protagonist and first-person narrator of this novel. He is a former American soldier and now works for the U.S State Department following World War II. Mark is given an assignment to find a young woman named Ellen Jaspar, a citizen of the United States who has disappeared after marrying an Afghan engineer called Nazrullah. Her parents have not heard anything from her in over a year, and she is declared missing.
After Mark has been stationed in Kabul, the novel follows Mark’s journey through Afghanistan in the late 1940s, and the problems he encounters. Mark travels to Afghanistan with certain pre-conceptions, discussing them with his co-workers before he leaves. Significantly, Mark describes Afghanistan as still being in the “bronze age,” saying that it is “what Palestine was like at the time of Jesus.” In Kabul, Mark describes the landscape, weather, fashion and culture in detail. He finds it difficult to adapt to the difference in culture and has a problematic encounter with mullahs after he sees them shouting at a woman for not being in religious dress.
The novel continues as Mark tries to find Ellen's partner Nazrullah. His search takes him into frightening areas of Afghanistan, where he witnesses a woman being stoned to death and other acts of brutality and cruelty. Following this, he questions Afghanistan's justice system and the emphasis on tradition and vengeance. He must confront the fact that life in Afghanistan is completely different to live in the United States and struggles with this throughout the text.
Mark finally finds Nazrullah and discovers that Ellen has left him. They get along well and Nazrullah takes him on a journey across the desert, encountering extreme weather conditions. After this, the group stumble upon a group of Koshis (nomads) and discover that Ellen has joined the group. Mark falls in love with the leader's daughter, who is called Mira, and learns about Koshi culture through this relationship. Through his journey, Mark begins to better understand Afghanistan’s rich culture and history and learns how warfare and violence have caused irreparable destruction in the country.
