Description: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION and THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE Five women from a once-illustrious Iranian family grapple with change--both personal and in the world around them--in this "whip-smart...huge-hearted, and sharp-toothed...joy of a debut" (David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas) novel that's perfect for book clubs."As funny as it is moving." --THE GUARDIAN * "Unputdownable." --HARPER'S BAZAAR (UK) * "Sweeping and irreverent." --BBC * "Life-affirming." --THE OBSERVER (LONDON) * "Thoroughly refreshing." --FINANCIAL TIMES * "Magnificent." --BERNARDINE EVARISTO, author of Girl, Woman, Other * "Darkly funny, richly satisfying." --SARAH WINMAN, author of Still LifeFive women. Three generations. A whole lot of family history. The Valiat family is in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution with only the Islamic-law-breaking Niaz for company. Meanwhile, in America, Shirin, Seema, and Bita are wondering if life in the "land of plenty" is all they had hoped for. When an annual vacation goes wildly awry and Shirin is arrested, long-held Valiat family secrets begin to surface. As their lives are turned upside down, could revealing the truth save their family, or might it break them apart once and for all?
Brief description: Nikki Massoud is the Audie Award-winning narrator of over thirty audiobooks. Also an experienced actor, her television credits include guest starring on Love Life, Emergence, and Madam Secretary, and her stage credits include Wish You Were Here at Playwrights Horizons and Othello at New York Theatre Workshop. She is also an Atlantic Launch Commission writer. Based in New York City, she is a first-generation Iranian-American immigrant who was raised in Montreal and Washington, DC.