I have been fascinated with all things Persian as of late. I like the idea of getting a glimpse, even if fictional, into a place that has only connotation of oppression and terrorism from the media. I liked the aspect of this book showing the Iranian people as beautiful and complicated, just as people are all over the world.

It’s the story of a woman, who after living a life filled with secrets and a loss of self, looks for the freedom she once so desperately sought. Rage, induced by a collision of her past and present, brings an accident that sends her home to a small Iranian village. Thirty years after being banished by her powerful father, she leaves a grown daughter, a husband she’s felt safe with but never loved, and tries to find solace in the people and place of her youth.

Even though I didn’t find the characters entirely sympathetic I thought the author was clever, and quite affective, switching narration style in the differing points in their lives. I also found the weaving of parables and poetry into the story to be a beautiful addition.

I liked some aspects of this novel, kind of a coming of age novel, told in reverse. But I was not left with that sigh of wonder when I’ve finished something that amazed me. There were so many themes, too many perhaps, that it felt sort of discombobulated… I didn’t feel as if all the arcs really came together to paint a cohesive picture.

By cohesive, I don’t mean the happy-ever-after that annoys me so much. I don’t need, nor want that, from a great book. Some of the focus got lost with too many kinds of human relationships fighting to be portrayed. Part of me thinks that is realistic, as each person does have many roles and relationships, and is a result of them. Yet, any one of the themes would have been enough; the mother/daughter theme, the dissolution of a long standing and passionless marriage, a miscarriage and the effects on the family, results of breaking tradition, maintaining a sense of self so far away from your heritage, etc. Trying to fit all of them in, however, without ever fleshing out any of them fully, left me dissatisfied.