New York City
Dr. Harold Banks is a retired professor of Comparative Literature and Afghan Studies, waiting for his adopted daughter to return from teaching in Afghanistan, her native country. When Nazrullah, an Afghan refugee, suddenly arrives on his Nebraska doorstep armed only with his daughter’s copies of The Diary of Anne Frank and The Old Man and the Sea — the two men become unlikely roommates. Set in both Maidan Shar, Afghanistan, and Omaha, Nebraska, Heartland is the story of a father, his determined daughter, and a journey towards mercy.