Twenty-one years ago, diplomat Angela Morgan’s husband died in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Shattered by her loss, she retreated to the backwaters of the State Department. Now, with her career about to dead end and no connections at home, she is forced to accept assignment to a remote outpost in northern Afghanistan. Unwelcome by the soldiers and unaccepted by the local government and warlords, Angela fights to earn the respect of her colleagues, especially Mark Davies, a British major who is, at turns, her staunchest ally and fiercest critic. Frustrated at her inability to contribute to the Afghani reconstruction, Angela begins to slip out of camp disguised in a burqa to aid the refugees in this war-torn region. As their farishta—or “angel”—she finds a new purpose, an unexpected new community, and an extraordinary new sense of self.