Denied by his father, abandoned by his mother, Adam has been in flight from his past for twenty years--until he returns to investigate the possible murder of his father by one of the church members."--Jacket.
An epic tale blending Persian and Jewish cultures travels from Tehran's Jewish ghetto, through Turkish whorehouses, to Los Angeles as Lili, with the help of Aunt Miriam the Moon, searches for her magical mother Roxanna the Angel.
* From the author of the mesmerising MOONLIGHT ON THE AVENUE OF FAITH, long-listed for the Orange Prize, comes an unforgettable story about religious fervour and extreme love. After years reporting on the world's war-zones, Adam returns home to the wild Appalachian mountains of Kentucky to investigate the death of Little Sam Jenkins - evangelist, snake-handler, womaniser, and also his father. Ninety-year-old Little Sam was bitten by a snake his faith couldn't defeat, handed to him by one of his followers - a beautiful young Kurdish woman called Blue. With violet eyes, red-golden hair and a reputation for being immune from earthly harm, Blue has a magic of her own, brought from the tribe she left at thirteen, and unextinguished by America and the cool reason of her husband the Professor. Irresistibly, defiantly and fatally, she is drawn to the fervour of the Appalachian Holiness snake-handlers, and then to Adam. In Adam and Blue's fierce relationship, love collides with faith, and beauty is opposed to truth, in a conflict which could destroy or redeem them. Written in mesmerising prose, Gina Nahai's new novel spans two extraordinary cultures at different ends of the world, united on
After years reporting on the world's war-zones, Adam returns home to the wild Appalachian mountains of Kentucky to investigate the death of Little Sam Jenkins - evangelist, snake-handler, womaniser, and also his father. Ninety-year-old Little Sam was bitten by a snake his faith couldn't defeat, handed to him by one of his followers - a beautiful young Kurdish woman called Blue. With violet eyes, red-golden hair and a reputation for being immune from earthly harm, Blue has a magic of her own, brought from the tribe she left at thirteen, and unextinguished by America and the cool reason of her husband the Professor. Irresistibly, defiantly and fatally, she is drawn to the fervour of the Appalachian Holiness snake-handlers, and then to Adam. In Adam and Blue's fierce relationship, love collides with faith, and beauty is opposed to truth, in a conflict which could destroy or redeem them. Written in mesmerising prose, Gina Nahai's new novel spans two extraordinary cultures at different ends of the world, united only by the intensity of their beliefs and the charismatic people at their centre.
From the best-selling author of Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith, a stirring, lyrical tale that offers American readers unique insight into the inner workings of Iranian society. In the decade before the Islamic Revolution, Iran is a country on the brink of explosion. Twelve-year-old Yaas is born into an already divided family: Her father is the son of wealthy Iranian Jews who are integrated into the country’s upper-class, mostly Muslim elite; her mother was raised in the slums of South Tehran, one street away from the old Jewish ghetto. Yaas spends her childhood navigating the many layers of Iranian society. Her task, already difficult because of the disparity in her parents’ worldview, becomes all the more critical when her father falls in love with a beautiful woman from a noble Muslim family. As her parents’ marriage begins to crumble and the country moves ever closer to revolution, Yaas is plagued by a mysterious and terrifying illness. But despite her ailment, when she learns that her father is about to abandon her and her mother—to immigrate to America with his mistress—Yaas is determined to save herself and her family. At once a cultural exploration of an as-yet-unfamiliar society and a psychological study of the effects of loss, Caspian Rain takes the reader inside the tragic and fascinating world of a brave young girl struggling against impossible odds.
“An intriguing murder-mystery journey anchored within the Iranian-Jewish community of Los Angeles.” —Washington Independent Review of Books Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award Finalist for the Jewish Book Council’s JJ Greenberg Memorial Award The Soleymans, an Iranian Jewish family, have been tormented for decades, from Tehran all the way to Los Angeles, by a crafty and unscrupulous financier who has futilely claimed to be an heir to their fortune. Now, their nemesis has nearly achieved his goal—until he suddenly turns up dead behind the wheel of his Aston Martin. The possible suspects are legion: his long-suffering wife, numerous members of the Soleyman clan, the scores of investors he bankrupted in a Ponzi scheme, or perhaps even his disgruntled bookkeeper and longtime confidant. This “fascinating” blend of murder mystery and generation-spanning family saga (BookPage) pulls back the curtain on a close-knit community, yet at the same time “feels more universal than anything . . . an engrossing, expansive epic that charts not only thousands [of] years of Iranian Jewish life, but the brutality of one family’s survival amidst revolution and cultural upheaval” (Kirkus Reviews). “A brilliant, funny, poignant, and thrilling novel about an Iranian Jewish family’s struggle to find its identity in exile in America. Part murder mystery, part comic novel . . . a book you will not be able to put down.” —New York Times–bestselling author Reza Aslan “With touches of magic realism, extraordinary characters, and a spiraling, multigenerational plot involving fraud, a murder mystery, epic suffering, heroic generosity, women’s struggle for freedom, and the clash between East and West, Nahai’s mythic, tragic, often beautiful immigrant family saga illuminates timeless questions of prejudice, trauma, inheritance, loyalty, and love.” —Booklist, starred review “A riveting tale. . . . Readers will be well rewarded.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
An epic tale blending Persian and Jewish cultures travels from Tehran's Jewish ghetto, through Turkish whorehouses, to Los Angeles as Lili, with the help of Aunt Miriam the Moon, searches for her magical mother Roxanna the Angel.
Denied by his father, abandoned by his mother, Adam has been in flight from his past for twenty years--until he returns to investigate the possible murder of his father by one of the church members."--Jacket.
One star-studded night, five-year-old Lili witnesses her mother, Roxanna, sprout wings and vanish into the sky, undisturbed by the rules of gravity. Roxanna leaves no farewell, no word of explanation, no trace of her existence. Lili's subsequent search for her mother - spurred by the tireless efforts of her aunt Miriam the Moon - is at the heart of this mesmerising epic tale that follows Roxanna, born as a bad-luck child in the harsh Jewish ghetto of Tehran, through the opulent world of Iran's aristocracy to the whorehouses of Turkey and beyond, to present day Los Angeles. At stake are Roxanna's hopes for happiness, for escaping the bonds of Old World tradition and finding forgiveness for that most terrible of sins - desire. Weaving together strands of Persian and Jewish culture with heartbreaking, lyrical prose, Gina Nahai brings to life a courageous circle of women rooted in their homeland but trying to reshape their lives as exiles in a new world.
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