Chapters 17-26 Summary

Yasin visits his father's store to announce painfully that his mother, Haniya, is marrying again, a baker, Ya'qub Zaynhum, ten years younger. Ahmad recalls brief months of happiness before divorcing her. Humiliated, Yasin can no longer pretend that she does not exist. Ahmad tries to calm him, but Yasin rails at the fiancé's greed. It would be humiliating to beg or threaten the man to break it off, but Ahmed gets Yasin to visit her. Chapter 18 brings Yasin to his unchanged boyhood neighborhood. Passing the corner fruit store brings painful recollections. He knocks on the familiar door and is admitted, unsure how to greet his mother before she falls on him with joyful tears. They soon fall to rebuking one another and defending themselves. He rejects Haniya's justification of an unlucky life. She begs for his love, but hears that...