The books gives the account of the three years Joyce Roper spent in Turkey, living in Nar, a small village in Anatolia. She found a society with a traditional culture, ruled by laws of religious observance, in which women play, and expect to play, a subservient role. The author helped the women with their daily work in the field and the making of bread, attended their births and deaths, celebrated with them at their ceremonies, weddings and festivals.
Aandacht voor de taak van de vrouwen in het opvoeden van de kinderen, het optreden als dokter, als ondernemer en het emotioneel ondersteunen van hun echtgenoten.