Just before the secession of South Sudan, a married former singer from the north seeks redemption for causing the death of a southern man by hiring his oblivious wife as her maid.

When searching for a blessing on the day of her firstborn child's naming ceremony, Sakina is instead given a curse. A travelling sheikh prophecies that her son, Muzamil, would die at the age of 20. In what is now a coming-of-death tale, a...