Inside Kabul's most notorious women's prison, Badam Bagh, silence is survival. But beneath the almond trees, where the women gather in rare moments of respite, secrets grow. Most of the women are convicted with heavy sentences, including life and death. When Niloofar, a young inmate, sets herself on fire in an act of desperate defiance, Sultan, the prison's bully, convinces the most erudite inmate Setara - the only woman revered by Sultan - to help her find out the reasons. They unravel a horrifying web of political corruption, sex abuse, and cover-ups, but realise that the truth is more dangerous than they ever imagined. The guards are watching too closely. The powerful men beyond these walls have ensured that women like them never speak. They must make a choice: stay silent and survive, or expose the truth before they vanish like the others.
