Chapter 1, A Frightening Presence Summary and Analysis

Bilquis Sheikh is in her garden picking a bouquet of flowers when a damp, mist-like cloud brushes against her. It alarms Bilquis, but she recovers and goes on gathering flowers. Still spooked by the presence she felt, Bilquis rushes toward her home looking back for reassurance that her imagination was playing tricks on her. Suddenly she feels a tap on her right hand. Bilquis mentions the events to her maids. Nur-jan offers to fetch the Mullah from the mosque who will cleanse the garden of evil spirits. Bilquis feels foolish and decides to attribute the incident to her imagination. She starts to read the Koran but gets tired and falls off to sleep. She awakes the next day to the sound of the Muslim call to prayer, a familiar chant that she had heard for...