Contents
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Overview
Amir and Soraya have a rushed engagement and wedding as Baba’s health fades, and Soraya lovingly nurses Baba until his death. Amir grieves and enters the Taheri family’s rhythms. He publishes a novel, while he and Soraya struggle with infertility and a failed IVF, reject adoption amid cultural doubts, and move to San Francisco burdened by absence.
Summary
Amir and Baba visit the Taheris for lafz, where General Taheri formally welcomes Amir as Soraya’s future husband. Because Baba is terminally ill, they forgo the customary engagement party and expedite the wedding plans. The nika and reception proceed with Afghan traditions, and that night Amir and Soraya consummate their marriage.
Soraya moves into Baba’s apartment to care for him tenderly, attending to his daily needs as his condition worsens. She and Baba present Amir’s childhood writing notebook, touching him deeply. After a final family gathering, Baba refuses morphine and dies peacefully in his sleep. The community mourns at the mosque, and Amir confronts life without Baba’s guidance.
Amir learns family dynamics: the general’s migraines, pride, and idleness; Khala Jamila’s past as a singer and her devoted affection for Amir. Soraya recounts the painful details of her past elopement and her father’s harsh response, and Amir reassures her, recognizing his own hidden regrets.
Amir and Soraya establish their home and routines, pursue studies at San Jose State, and Amir begins writing. He secures an agent, publishes his first novel, and briefly enjoys recognition, while global events shift and Afghanistan remains in turmoil.
Ready for parenthood, they try to conceive for over a year. Tests show "unexplained infertility." Treatments, including IVF, fail, draining their finances and emotions. Dr. Rosen broaches adoption; Soraya is ambivalent, and General Taheri voices cultural objections about bloodlines. Amir agrees to wait, partly believing his past may merit this denial.
They buy a small house in San Francisco with earnings from Amir’s second book advance. Despite a fresh start, the shared ache of childlessness seeps into their marriage, a quiet presence between them at night.
Who Appears
- AmirNarrator; marries Soraya, grieves Baba’s death, publishes a novel, confronts infertility and declines adoption.
- Soraya TaheriAmir’s wife; cares devotedly for Baba, shares painful past, struggles with infertility, ambivalent about adoption.
- BabaAmir’s father; proudly arranges engagement and wedding, grows weaker, dies peacefully after family gathering.
- General Iqbal TaheriSoraya’s father; formal, proud, migraine-prone, unemployed; opposes adoption, clings to Afghan ideals and lineage.
- Khanum Jamila (Khala Jamila)Soraya’s mother; affectionate toward Amir, former singer, doting and anxious, consoles Soraya about infertility.
- Dr. RosenFertility specialist; diagnoses unexplained infertility, oversees failed IVF, suggests adoption.
- SharifSoraya’s uncle; INS employee and poet who reads at the wedding; hosts family events.
- Martin GreenwaltAmir’s literary agent; sells Amir’s first novel, launching his publication success.