Summary

The novel begins with a brief prologue, entitled "Prelude." The song "I Wanna Be Your Lover" comes on the kitchen radio and Saeed's mother is no longer his mother. She sings and dances to a song that "take[s] women places men cannot follow" (xi). Saeed sees his mother not as his mom but as a woman, and he wonders how a song and a singer's voice can have the power to transform a person. He is young and doesn't know the difference "between abandoned and alone" just as his mother's heart "won't know the difference between beat and attack" (xii). She will pass away within the decade but for now, Saeed is just a boy and his mother is just a woman.

Analysis

This prelude establishes the important relationship between Saeed and his mother Carol. It also addresses the multi-faceted identity of a...