Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu whose home is the windswept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The second daughter in a family with no sons she' s been allowed freedoms forbidden to most Muslim girls. But when a tragic encounter with a wealthy and powerful landowner ruins the marriage plans of her older sister Shabanu is called upon to sacrifice everything she' s dreamed of. Should she do what is necessary to uphold her family' s honor-- or listen to the stirrings of her own heart?