The Taliban have disappeared from Kabul`s streets, but the long shadows of their brutal regime remain. In his short life eleven-year-old Fawad has known more grief than most: his father & brother have been killed, his sister has been abducted, & Fawad & his mother, Mariya, must rely on the charity of family to eke out a h&-to-mouth existence. Then Mariya finds a position as housekeeper for a charismatic western woman, Georgie, & Fawad dares to hope for an end to their struggle. He soon discovers that his beloved Georgie is caught up in a dangerous love affair with the powerful Afghan warlord Haji Khan, a legendary name on the streets of Kabul. At first resentful of Haji Khan`s presence, Fawad learns that love can move a man to act in surprising ways, & an overwhelming act of generosity persuades him of the warlord`s good intentions. But even a man as influential as Haji Khan can`t protect Fawad from the next tragedy to blight his young life, a tragedy so devastating that it threatens to destroy the one thing Fawad thought he could never lose: his love for his country.