Behnaaz is from Aabaad, a small country somewhere in the Middle East. When she meets B, an English colleague at the university, they enter into a turbulent relationship. B's infatuation is ruled by his desire to enter the secret, exotic world of the imaginary ‘harem’, where he mistakenly believes that Behnaaz is mistreated by her family and traditions. Behnaaz meanwhile struggles to be appreciated for her modernity and liberated worldliness. They begin their marriage against a backdrop of revolution. This is a story of passion, prejudice and reconciliation, and encompasses the complex love-hate relationship between the East and the West. The relationship between Behnaaz and B is marked by the complex way in which each constructs the other. Their relationship mirrors how the West’s imagination of the East is so different to how the East sees itself. This conflict will resonate with our experience of current world politics; but it is also a very old story which also about all male-female relationships. B's male infatuation with Behnaaz is ruled by his desire to enter the secret, exotic world of what he imagines the ‘harem’ to be. He misunderstands almost everything about Behnaaz, thinking her oppressed by a male- and family-dominated society. Behnaaz struggles to be appreciated for her modernity and liberated worldliness. By the end of the novel, B has begun to realize that his relationship with Behnaaz has taken him into a Dera reality which is very different to the one he has lived in as a foreigner. Behnaaz reveals a love and loyalty for B which she herself cannot understand.
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