The novel begins with a cup reading--and a lie by omission. Salma sees dark omens in her daughter's coffee cup on Alia's wedding day but chooses not to reveal them. She sees crossed knives, crumbling houses, and the image of a zebra: "A zebra is an exterior life, an unsettled life" (page 9). But Salma later questions what she saw in the cup: "Not a zebra, but a horse with smudges, a speckled horse. It means travel, perhaps, even a difficult first pregnancy, but luck; it also means luck" (page 23). In what ways do you think Alia's life--including her emotional life and relationships--fulfill these two interpretations of her mother's vision?