Tahirih is a young, uneducated but highly curious woman living in late 19th century Persia where 90% of the population, both male and female, do not know how to read or write. This is her story -- as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a supervisor of women -- yet most importantly, as herself, awakening to her own perceptions of the world around her. She must deal with overwhelming personal choices, and her dilemmas are reflective of issues most women have faced, both then and now. Tahirih must decide how to blend her own needs with those of others, how to choose in seemingly impossible situations, and most of all, how to keep going when it seems the world has battered her down too far.