“Her absence has materialized around you like a carapace. No passage of time can soften its robustness. The living room, the kitchen, the dining table, the stairs, everything in the house emanates the fact of her absence like madly swirling sprinklers.” The protagonist has recently converted to Islam in the wake of his mother’s sudden departure from the family. His violence-hungry, alcoholic father, a staunch hater of Muslims, is unaware. As he navigates the complex terrain of living a secret life under the suffocating shadows of his father’s abuse, he must grapple with the tragic consequences of defying life’s odds.