Tom Milton

Milos and Amira Tom Milton

Milos and Amira are refugees from the war in Bosnia. Milos is a Serb, a Christian, and his family suffered losses from acts of violence committed against them by Bosniaks, the major ethnic group in their city. After losing his uncle in the war he was able to escape with his family and come to America. Amira is a Bosniak, a Muslim, and her family suffered losses from acts of violence committed against them by Serbs. After losing her mother in the war she was able to escape with her family and come to America. Five years later they are living in Yonkers with their families, and they have just begun their freshman year at St. Catherine College when terrorists destroy the World Trade Center. Since the terrorists were presumptive Muslims there is a strong anti-Muslim feeling in their community, and after being attacked verbally while wearing her headscarf in public Amira stops wearing it at the college. When she appears without a headscarf in the religion class that they are both taking, she inadvertently reveals to Milos the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. When the professor, Sister Maura, invites students to talk about the attack, a few of them blame Muslims, but Milos argues that the men who flew the planes into the towers were not motivated by their religion but only by hate, and that if there had been any love in their hearts they wouldn't have done it. That gets Amira's attention, and drawn together, they fall in love. When acts of violence between their cousins, who are consumed with ethnic hatred, escalate into a war between their families they try to make peace, believing that their love will prevail, but soon the war gets out of control.