It is 1979 in Iran, the year of the solar eclipse and the Iranian Revolution.  In a city in northern Iran a retired judge and his wife are hosting the spring luncheon for their family.  The family consists of a number of characters including a supposedly devout mullah, a nagging wife, an opium addicted nephew and his idealistic brother.  As the year unfolds, each of the family members will encounter a crisis which for some will lead to self-awareness, for others power and glory and for others destruction.

Although the plot is somewhat predictable, Ghaffari, who grew up in Tehran until she was ten years old,  tells a good story with insight into what happened to the average Iranian at the beginning of the revolution.