It is based on the life of the author's mother, Veron Dumehjian (1907-1981), who survived the Armenian genocide.

For as long as I knew the sky and the clouds, we lived in our white stucco house in the Armenian quarter of Azizya, in Turkey, but when the great dome of Heaven cracked and shattered over our lives, and we were abandoned by the sun and blown like scattered seed across the Arabian desert, none returned but me, and my Azizya, my precious home, was made to crumble and fall and forever disappear from my life.

The book begins with the early life of Veron Dumehjian (1907-1981) in her native city of Azizya (today Emirdağ) in the province of Eskişehir.

[2][3][4] When the Armenian genocide began in 1915, eight-year-old Veron along with her family were forcefully removed from their homes and deported.

[2] During the deportations, Veron's entire immediate family, including her father, mother, brothers, and sisters died either from diseases contracted along the way or due to exhaustion.

[2][5][6] Now an orphan at the age of eleven, Veron managed to survive in the Syrian desert with the help of distant relatives.