The narrator of The Zahir is a bestselling novelist who lives in Paris and enjoys all the privileges money and celebrity bring. His wife of ten years, Esther, is a war correspondent who has disappeared along with a friend, Mikhail, who may or may not be her lover. Was Esther kidnapped, murdered, or did she simply escape a marriage that left her unfulfilled? The narrator doesn't have any answers, but he has plenty of questions of his own.

Then one day Mikhail finds the narrator and promises to reunite him with his wife. In his attempt to recapture a lost love, the narrator discovers something unexpected about himself.

On the longest day of summer, the rain falls heavily on a small rural village in the Scottish Highlands. Twelve people sit with their families in their worn-out wooden cabins, with little to do to overcome the boredom of the rain — except, of course, to watch the other residents.

A woman runs as if she is fleeing from something; a retired couple reminisces about neighbors who moved away long ago; a teenager braves the dark waters of the loch in his red kayak. Each person is wrapped up in their own concerns, yet increasingly aware of the community around them. One family in particular — a mother and daughter without the right clothes or manners — begins to attract the attention of the others. Tensions rise as everyone becomes watchful, unaware of the impending tragedy as night finally falls.

As the summer rain and day progress, tensions escalate, and with the darkness will come an irreversible turn of events.