Canadian Nawal Marwan has just passed away. The only people at the reading of her will are her twin adult children, Jeanne and Simon Marwan, and the executor, Nawal’s long-time employer and friend, notary Jean Lebel. The will contains many unusual requests, the most unusual being two sealed envelopes, one to be delivered by each of the twins to their father and to their brother respectively.

The unusual nature of these requests are that their father as they know passed away years earlier during the war in the Middle East (where Nawal was raised) and they have no knowledge of any other offspring. Simon sees these requests as further indication that his mother was crazy and he will have no part of any of what he sees as her unusual final requests. But Jeanne wants to respect her mother’s final wishes, which means finding out who their real father is and who this unknown brother is.

These tasks take Jeanne on a quest to the Middle East to trace her mother’s history, of which she knows little. As Jeanne goes on her quest with what little information she has on hand, she finds a history filled with turmoil. But many who knew her mother or knew of her mother refuse to speak to Jeanne. Jeanne ultimately requires Simon’s assistance who reluctantly joins her in the Middle East. But even Simon gets caught up in finding out about his father and brother when they are closer to piecing together the puzzle. Finding out about their mother’s past and thus their own history may enlighten them on why Nawal was the woman that she was.