Liz Ryan has always known she was adopted, but it never held much significance for her. She has everything she's ever wanted: loving parents, a busy life in Los Angeles, a career as an up-and-coming surgeon. Then she finds out the truth about her birth. Learning that her birth mother was a Saudi Arabian concubine, Liz sets forth on a remarkable journey. She accepts a job in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and begins her search for the woman who gave up her infant daughter to save her life. Before long Liz is draw into the plight of a people on the brink of war. And into the intimate and hostile world of the women behind the veil.