Rose returns home to Egypt in order to mourn her sister's death. While back in her childhood bedroom, she unearths mysterious items that belonged to her sister. Gameela struggles to reconcile grieving for her sister she was not close with and anger at her husband for his involvement in her death. A Pure Heart begins as a mystery, but explores the pain and healing of grief by the end.

A Pure Heart gripped me from the first chapter. The objects that Rose finds reveal that she did not know her sister, Gameela, at all. The chapters are interspersed with some of the documents that Rose found. As the narration jumps between Rose in the present and Gameela in the past, the reader learns of the circumstances that led to Gameela's death. Although Rose never learns the full story, her story of grieving for a sister she hardly knew is beautiful and emotional. By the end of the book, solving the mystery is not what is important anymore because you truly care about these characters and their pain.