In the closing years of the rule of the Shah, young Talkhoon lives with her sister, Taara, with her grandmother Khanum-Jaan, her grandfather Baba-Ji, and her disturbing uncle, Asaad, in the house known as The Drum Tower in Tehran. In the tower, Baba-Ji continues his life's work, an unfinishable book on the Simorgh, the Bird of Knowledge, but revolution of one sort or another is on the way and Talkhoon's father is in hiding. The girls live with the mystery of their missing mother, and Khanum-Jaan's inexplicable hatred of her. In a book peopled by amazing characters and events, shot through with magic realism, Talkhoon's life, and the life of her country, rush to their inevitable destinies.