Summary

In Chapter 16, the narrator notes that Saidi's driver's car was hijacked by terrorists while attempting to get Saidi's mother and sister out of Baghdad, and that the hijackers were killing various people along the route after asking their religion. Abu Anmar left Baghdad after selling the Orouba Hotel to Faraj. Faraj was cleaning up inside the hotel when a massive explosion rocked the neighborhood.

Flashing back, the narrator explains that Faraj had also recently acquired Elishva's house, as Elishva finally agreed to go to Australia. This was accomplished by her daughter Hilda sending her own son, Daniel, to convince Elishva. Hilda believed, correctly, that her Daniel looked enough like his namesake uncle to confuse Elishva. As she prepared to move, Elishva cut out the face of Saint George from the picture to take with her. She called to her...