The novel opens with Isma, a 28-year-old British Muslim, running late for her flight from London to Boston, because of the airport security taking her into an interrogation room. During the questioning, Isma tells the security about her family background: She has younger twin siblings whom she has been raising since their mother died, but now that they are adults, Isma plans to continue her education and pursue a PhD degree in Sociology in Massachusetts at the invitation of her former adviser from the London School of Economics (LSE), Dr. Hira Shah, who is now teaching in Amherst.

Although Isma arrived at the airport well ahead of time, she misses her flight because the interrogation lasts for almost two hours, during which the security officer asks her about “Shias, homosexuals, the Queen, democracy, The Great British Bake Off, the invasion of Iraq, Israel, suicide bombers, dating websites” (8). Isma tries to give polite and politically correct answers, just like she had practiced with her sister Aneeka, a 19-year-old law student, who “knew everything about her rights and nothing about the fragility of her place in the world” (10).

Once Isma’s student visa is verified, she boards the next plane to Boston and reaches her destination without further hold-ups, although she expects another round of interrogation at Logan Airport.