Introduction

A woman in New York awakens knowing, as deeply as a mother s blood can know, that her grown son is in danger. She has not heard from him in weeks. His name is Jonas. His girlfriend, Vic, doesn t know what she has done wrong, but Jonas won t answer his cell phone. We soon learn that Jonas is isolated in a safe-house apartment in New York City, pondering his conversion to Islam and his experiences training in Pakistan, preparing for the violent action he has been instructed to take in 31 hours. Jonas s absence from the lives of those who love him causes a cascade of events, and as the novel moves through the streets and subways of New York we come to know intimately the lives of its characters. We also learn to feel deeply the connections and disconnections that occur between young people and their parents not only in this country but in the Middle East as well. Carried by Hamilton s highly-lauded prose, this story about the helplessness of those who cannot contact a beloved young man who is on a devastatingly confused path is compelling on the most human level.

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Excerpt

New York City: 1:49 A.M.
Mecca: 9:49 A.M.

Tile.
Cool, powder-blue tile, chipped in places and hard against his bare feet.
And a razor with an orange handle. A package of them, actually. Ten in all.
Bathroom tile and drugstore razors.
Bathroom tile and drugstore razors.
Bathroom tile and drugstore razors.
It was a prayer.
That wasn’t such a preposterous idea—anything could be a prayer. Should be, in fact. Every step Jonas took, every idle thought that eased through his head: a holy, ongoing dialogue with God. Or perhaps a plea, because at this moment, he shouldn’t be chatting with God as though they were dinner partners. He needed to be a supplicant. Please. Please give me the brains to remember what I’ve been taught and, please, the speed to do it quickly. And the calm, so that I can avoid undue attention and accomplish what I need to accomplish. Mercy, too. Have mercy, please, oh God, on my soul. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the Author:

1. Carol struggles with how involved she=can get as a mother when she’s worried about her young adult son. How does parenting=change as children become young adults? Do you think she does too much, too little, or enough?

2. What factors contribute to Jonas finding himself in the circumstances that he does as the novel begins? Is it possible to feel sympathetic toward him?

3. The New York City subway is a force in the novel. How do different characters perceive the subway?

4.The diverse meaning of prayer is one of the novel’s themes. Sonny Hurt, the subway panhandler, views the subway as a holy place, a kind of church. And both Jonas and Mara try to pray in unusual ways. What role does prayer play in tying together Jonas and the other characters?

5. Jonas and Masoud both have somewhat distant relationships with their fathers. How might this have impacted their character development and the story’s outcome?

6. What would have happened if Jonas had been able to reach Vic by cell phone sometime during those 31 hours?

7. What do you think will happen to the relationship between Carol and Jake after the novel ends?

8. In the final chapter, Jonas leaves the nails behind. What is the significance of that act?

Weblinks

»	Author Masha Hamilton's web site
»	Publisher's Book Info
»	The Story Behind the Book

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