Mariam and her parents, Nana and Jalil, are positioned as central to the narrative of the novel's first section. While Chapter 1 is brief, it provides us with important background information about three main characters and establishes symbolism as a means of foreshadowing. Nana, a bitter woman, frequently reminds Mariam of her father's abandonment, and is upset that Jalil placed the blame on her as if he had no part in their affair. However, Mariam's love for Jalil does not diminish, even after she learns he banished her mother after their affair resulted in a pregnancy. As a girl, Miriam loves Thursday visits from Jalil, who tells her stories of Herat, although she never visits the city and her mother takes pains to remind the growing girl that her father brings her only stories, none of the wealth Jalil describes to her.Īs Mariam grows older, she learns her father has three wives and nine legitimate children. Jalil impregnates Nana, and she and Mariam live in a kolba (small cottage) outside of the town.
Mariam, an Afghani woman, remembers her mother calling her a harami when she was five years old - although it is many years later before she learns the word means "bastard child." Before Mariam's birth, her mother, Nana, was a housekeeper for a wealthy businessman in Herat named Jalil.
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