Emile, the matriarch, is on her deathbed. Returning to her childhood home to say goodbye, her granddaughter becomes enveloped in memories, as family and friends gather round to tell their own tales, one by one.We hear of how Uncle Hanna first left Lebanon for Brazil early in the twentieth century; of Soraya Angela, the illegitimate deaf-mute child whose short life was blighted by fear and prejudice; of Uncle Emir and his solitary walk which ended at the bottom of a river; of Hakim's wranglings with the Arabic language; of the two unnameable, fiery tongued brothers; of the German photographer and constant friend Dorner, roaming Manaus with Hasselblad; and, at the centre of it all, Emile- loving, interfering, luminous.