Liz, a successful author arrives at a beach in the magical Sinai Desert in search of her daughter Rachel who ran away. Liz decides to stay at the beach despite her daughter's objections and meets with a Bedouin storyteller. It is here that she learns of the unusual love story of Leila--a Western tourist--and Najim, the son of a Bedouin Sheik. This extraordinary love story, that took place many years before on the same exotic beach, began to fall apart after the expulsion of Leila and Najim from his tribe. While wandering alone in the desert, Leila is exposed to a traumatic female circumcision ceremony that horrifies her and shatters the love story. Liz, captivated by the love story, undergoes a journey of psychological torment, during which her daughter Rachel discovers surprising facts about her mother's life.