Cape Town in the sixties. Two Indian sisters, strong-willed Zuhra, and her demure sister, Salena, suffer at the hand of their spiteful mother. Zuhra travels overseas and marries a man of her own choosing, whilst Salena's fate has her married off to a man she doesn't know. Zuhra is obsessed with fairy tales and rewrites them on her fairy tale blog. She returns to South Africa and supports her Salena when she breaks down and tries to kill her husband. The title narrator reveals itself near the end and casts a different light on their witch-like mother.