Summary

The novel opens with a story told by an unnamed narrator who is later revealed to be the character of Nomi. In the story, Nomi fondly recalls living in a hut in India when she was a young girl. Nomi lived with her parents and brothers, and their hut stood in the midst of a jungle. One day, a group of soldiers marched into the jungle and killed her father and brother. Nomi and her mother fled, but her mother was eventually taken away by a soldier. Nomi was then taken in by a group of women. One of the women gave Nomi a pair of earrings that used to belong to the dead woman’s deceased daughter. Soldiers eventually showed up to the women’s house too, forced everyone out, and burned the house down.

On page 18, the novel switches to a...