While this novel takes place in the United States, it concerns the effects of the Iranian Revolution on the main character and her family, who are Iranian citizens living in America. The novel focuses on the exile of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1979 through the release of the American hostages under the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1981.

The seeds sown for the Iranian revolution date back to the 19th century when both Russia and Great Britain sought to control their tobacco interests in the region. Ultimately, an authoritarian dynasty united under a shah was supported by Great Britain in 1925. The first shah was forced by Britain and the Soviet Union to abdicate, and his son, Shah Mohommed Reza took his place in 1941. After World War II, a democratically elected government came to power in 1950, electing Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh. However, when Mossadegh was not amenable to British and American oil interests in Iran, the American Central Intelligence Agency sponsored a coup that put the shah back in power in 1953. The United States continued to support the shah by providing weapons and training his secret police, who worked to put down any resistance that arose through violence (Zunes, Stephen.