The plot revolves around Touba, the young heroine, and what she must do at a young age after her intellectual father dies when she is twelve years old. She subsequently, decides to marry in order to be financial secure. However, her first marriage does not go well and she gets a divorce; however, she finds a new husband who has ties with the fallen Qajar dynasty. Even this marriage does not conclude well but throughout it she is introduced to the very influential court system and bears children with the ex-prince. As historical as this novel is it has been banned from Iran and has forced Parsipur into exile.
The significance of this novel is to understand a, although non-fiction, point-of-view of what was occurring in Iran during those 80 years: the struggle within a patriarchal religious culture; with feminist empowerment at hand; and the complexity invoked to embark on a journey to learn the meaning of life while finding social repression. Furthermore, the significance of the presence of outside influences, specifically here, Russia and Britain, in Iran, and the changes created within government, politics, and society. In summation, the twentieth century embraced a path where the status of women changed due to the impact of colonialism and the rule of Reza Shah and Mossadeq and the occurrence of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
In summation, the purpose of book is to intertwine Iranian history while telling it through a story, which makes it more comprehendible and personal while contributing to modern feminist literature.
