Ayesha is a seemingly well-adjusted middle-aged woman whose life centers around her son Saleem - a gentle, dreamy 18 year old, in love with Zubeida. They live in the village of Charkhi, in Pakistani Punjab. Ayesha's husband is dead and she manages a living from his pension and by giving Quran lessons to young girls. The story begins in 1979 in a Pakistan under President General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law. The country has embarked on teh road to Islamization. Saleem becomes intensely involved with a group of Islamic fundamentalists and leaves Zubeida. Ayesha is saddend to see her son change radically. Events escalate when Sikh pilgrims from India pour into the village. Later, a pligrim looks for his sister Veero who was abducted in 1947.