Secrets

The most important theme of the novel is the idea that everyone deserves secrets and it is sometimes better to keep things to oneself for the better of the others. This is most obvious with Ava’s discovery that she is Zakaria’s daughter, but there is also Idris’s decision to keep his knowledge from Mazna.

The reveal to Ava that she is Zakaria’s daughter is something that changes her view on life. The idea that Mazna lied to her and Idris about her true parentage is something that Ava and her siblings think about constantly through the last bit of the novel. However, Ava realizes that she and the family would be better off if she does not tell Mazna that she knows. This is for two important reasons. First, Ava feels that her mother likely did not tell her for a good...