Such a fascinating and touching novel, set mainly in Tehran. Noor, an immigrant from Iran, returns to her childhood home with her teenage daughter, Lily, after she realizes her husband (an immigrant from Barcelona) is having an affair.
What Noor finds in her home and in Tehran is not pretty, while she tries to cope with her feelings about her marriage, her relationship with her daughter, and the poor health of her father, who sent her to America for college and a less restrictive life.
It is hard to imagine how one would cope with the restrictions and deprivations in Islamist Iran, after experiencing the freedoms of American life. I have Iranian friends who left after the revolution, and are now citizens of the US, and I worry about them whenever they travel back to visit family and friends. At the same time, I know how they miss those they left behind.
The author does not spare the reader from the dangers of life in Iran, though she lyrically describes the beauty of the country, and the warmth of its people. I know this is a place I could never visit... so sad.
It is very moving to read Noor's story, her struggle with her identity, and the dichotomy of her life. The character I wanted to know most, however, was her father, Zod, a gentle and complex man who is facing his final battle and is resolved to his fate. His tale is a tribute to devoted fathers everywhere.
