When Ayse Yalcin, a Mulsim international exchange student, meets the son of a Southern Baptist minister, Daniel Harris, an innocent study date evolves into a serious romance. Daniel's father, Clayton, tells his son not to pursue the relationship, but his father's stern warnings go unheeded. Set in contemporary Georgia and Istanbul, the novel explores the depths of religious intolerance in the modern world. It is a love story set against a background of two deeply religious families who suddenly find themselves torn between their faith and their children.