In a remote community on the edge of a windswept desert, a woman has been condemned to death by stoning. Steeped in the harsh values of her traditional, patriarchal society, Noor accepts her fate. When an aid worker befriends her, urging her to defend herself and her unborn child, the two women form a bond. Together with Amina, Noor's outspoken friend, they struggle to defy the law. Written in prose imbued with the rhythms and images of the author's native language, Arabic, this is a tale of the bonds of female friendships, solidarity and empowerment in a society where a woman's voice, especially in the public sphere, has been denied.

Vénus Khoury-Ghata is a multiple award-winning poet and novelist. She was born in Lebanon in 1937 and has lived in Paris since 1972. Considered a major voice in France's contemporary literature, she has published a dozen novels and has many collections of poems. Her work has been translated into Arabic, Dutch, German, Italian, Russian and English, and she herself translates contemporary Arabic poetry into french. Her many awards include the Prix Goncourt for Poetry and the Grand Prix de l' Académie Française.