Set in 1965, in the British Protectorate of Dubai, the Letter Writer tells the story of a young precocious Arab nationalist boy who works summers as a professional letter writer, transcribing letters into classical Arabic for local illiterates. One day he is approached by an Indian cloth merchant who wants to start a correspondence with an English woman he is in love with. The man shows the boy the photograph of the woman and the boy becomes instantly besotted. He sets about learning English so he can write the letters on behalf of his new customer, which leads him on an adventure of love loss and awakening.