Summary

Part Three begins with Noor attending Mills College in 1984. She is a new arrival in the United States and she is desperately homesick for her mother and her father and her Iran. She watches American behavior and is amazed by the constant flirting and by the informality of her professors. She recalls spending her first few weeks in Los Angeles with her estranged Uncle Morad, who is open about his disdain for her father and his decision to stay with Café Leila in Tehran.

The following chapter, Chapter 15, delves deeply into Morad and his marriage to Farah. He is a cold husband and very particular about hygiene and marital sex, often refusing Farah except for Friday nights after she takes a hot shower. She is unhappy in her marriage but bears Morad’s behavior for the sake of their daughter, Marjan. She is...