This novel provides a moving account of a terror attack and the people behind it. The opening scene is from the perspective of a victim, who describes the chaos unfolding around him. He describes how people around him are injured, and then describes his own injury before he passes away. This opening scene is significant, as it shows the perspective of a victim. This is significant as the rest of the text then deals with the perpetrator of this attack, and why she might have done it.
This novel is significantly about love and betrayal. Jaafari thinks that he knows his wife entirely at the beginning of the text and is shocked to discover that he had no idea about her extremist beliefs. Other characters in the text are dubious that he had not been involved, as Jaafari struggles to reconcile his good memories of his wife with her atrocious actions. He wants to understand how she became involved in this situation, and whether she received any help. More importantly, he wants to understand what compelled her to do it and how she had such extreme beliefs. Significantly, this text is about how people we might not expect can turn to radicalism and extremism.
Additionally, this text shows the terrible consequences that extremism can have on society and individuals. Throughout the novel, we see terrible violence and sympathize with the victims of terrorist attacks. For example, the narrator in the opening scene of the text describes his injuries: “Against my side, grotesque and horrible, my leg is lying, still connected to my thigh by a thin ribbon of flesh.” This description is incredibly graphic and revolting, showing the traumatic impact of terrorist attacks on individual people.
