Summary

In “Bakhtawara and Miriam,” when Bakhtawara heard that her sister Zarghoona “abandoned her American fiancé” Atal “three days before their wedding,” she decided she could marry him instead (53). Doing so would “restore her family’s honor” (53). When she told her mother her plan, she was pleased. First, however, they had to consult the men in their family and the women in Atal’s. Bakhtawara’s eldest brother Rahman was “the unofficial head of the household” (54). He, like the other family members, was irate that Zarghoona had run away with her lover Ali the baker.

Bakhtawara visited her neighbor Miriam to tell her her plan. She and Miriam spoke through “a small hole in the center of their shared wall” (56). Ever since Miriam’s former husband had thrown acid in her face for sneaking out to visit friends, Miriam refused...