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Showing 1 - 19 of 19 items
By Rachna Gilmore. 2001
Fifteen-year-old Tara Mehta's life is turned upside down when her grandmother visits from India. Naniji disapproves of the family's Canadian…
lifestyle and feminist mother. But Tara also learns of her heritage and Naniji's involvement in Gandhi's peace movement. Some strong language. For junior and senior high readers. 2001By Sau-Ling Wong, Hualing Nieh. 1981
This extraordinary novel tells the story of two women-Mulberry and Peach-who are really one. Mulberry is a young Chinese-American woman…
who has fled the turmoil of postwar China to settle in the United States. Unable to forget the terrors she has witnessed or to resolve the conflicts between her new life and her old, she copes by developing a second personality: the fearless, tough-talking, sexually uninhibited Peach. While Mulberry clings to her cultural and ethical roots, Peach renounces her past to embrace the American way of life with a vengeance. These two women-both in flight-speak to their readers through an innovative narrative structure, combining journal entries, interior dialogue, letters, poetry, and myth. Mulberry's past-mainly her experiences during the Japanese occupation of China and the years of civil war between Communists and Nationalists-haunts the text. Separated from her family, she seeks refuge in the home of wealthy cousins, who try desperately to maintain their rigid traditions as warrign forces close in around Peking and the house is systematically looted. Mulberry escapes downriver in a boat carrying a strange assortiment of refugees. But her escape to Taiwan only brings new terrors: when her new husband is targeted by the police, Mulberry msut go into hiding with him in a tiny attic room. There her young daughterm who cannot remember life "outside", descends into a fantasy world of her own invention and unwittingly ensures her family's doom, Mulberry's journal entires alternate with a series of letters from Peach to "the man from the USA immigration service." Peach has embarked on a cross-country journey in flight from possible deportation. Pregnant and penniless, she lives by her wits while taunting her pursuers and ridiculing her alter ego Mulberry, whom she seeks, finally, to conquer. In Mulberry and Peach Hualing Nieh offers a rare perspective, through the eyes of a young refugee woman, of the upheavals of contemporary China (where the book was banned upon its first publication in 1976). Through her experimental, highly effective narrative, she also presents an unforgettable portrait of the pain of cultural dislocation and the anguish of psychological disintegration.By Ana Castillo. 2014
Recently divorced, Palma, a forty-three-year-old Latina, takes stock of her life when she reconnects with her gangster younger cousin recently…
released from prison. As she checks out her other options, her sexual obsession with her cous' ignites but their family secrets bring them together in unexpected ways. In this wildly entertaining and sexy novel, Ana Castillo creates a memorable character with a flare for fashion, a longing for family, and a penchant for adventure. Give It to Me is Sex in the City for a Chicana babe who's looking for love in all the wrong places.Ana Castillo is one of the most powerful voices in contemporary Chicana literature. She is the author of So Far From God and Sapogonia, both New York Times Notable Books of the Year, as well as The Guardians, Peelemselves onto love and desire are the same people who, at one time or another, must flee from it. An evocative page-turner."-Rigoberto González, author of Butterfly Boy, Memories of a Chicano Mariposa"Through deadpan humor, impulsive characters, and a romp across America, Castillo's absorbing novel is a search for twenty-first-century identity at a time when we find that very notion at its most unstable."-Tony Valenzuela, executive director of the Lambda Literary Foundation"In her new novel, Give It To Me, Castillo delivers a story that is both tawdry and transcendent. The sense of contemporary rootlessness chafes against deeply rooted Mexican-American culture creating a raw friction unlike any other story out there."-Jewelle Gomez, author of The Gilda Stories"Give It To Me gives us a post-9/11, post-Bush, fast-talking, fast-walking multicultural, multiracial, multisexual panoply of characters...I thought I would die laughing."-Cheryl Clarke, author of The Days of Good Looks: Prose and Poetry 1980-2005"The novel, released last month, is a brave exploration of uninhibited feminine sexuality - at least on the surface. But it's also, in many ways, a great American novel, an examination of family, class issues and the search for happiness."-Las Cruces Sun-News"Full of drama and gossip (because who doesn't love chisme), this is a must-read for any chica in the process of finding her true self."-Krystyna Chávez for Cosmopolitan"Palma Piedras, 43 and divorced, tries on lovers of both sexes like a woman grabbing stilettos at a sample sale. She's a Latina Moll Flanders, cheeky and passionate, clawing her way up from some very mean streets. Raw, funny and real."-Marcia Menter for MoreRecently divorced, Palma, a forty-three-year-old Latina, takes stock of her life when she reconnects with her gangster younger cousin recently released from prison. As she checks out her other options, her sexual obsession with her cous' ignites but their family secrets bring them together in unexpected ways. In this wildly entertaining and sexy novel, Ana Castillo creates a memorable character with a flare for fashion, a longing for family, and a penchant for adventure. Give It to Me is Sex in the City for a Chicana babe who's looking for love in all the wrong places.Ana Castillo is one of the most powerful voices in contemporary Chicana literature. She is the author of So Far From God and Sapogonia, both New York Times Notable Books of the Year, as well as The Guardians, PeelBy Cherie Dimaline. 2019
A #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLEROne of the most anticipated books of the summer for Time, Harper's Bazaar, Bustle and Publishers Weekly'Deftly…
written, gripping and informative. Empire of Wild is a rip-roaring read!' Margaret Atwood'Empire of Wild is doing everything I love in a contemporary novel and more. It is tough, funny, beautiful, honest and propulsive' Tommy Orange, author of There There 'Dimaline turns an old story into something newly haunting and resonant' New York Times'Close, tight, stark, beautiful - rich where richness is warranted, but spare where want and sorrow have sharpened every word. Dimaline has crafted something both current and timeless' NPR'Revelatory... Gritty and engaging, this story of a woman and her missing husband is one of candor, wit and tradition'Ms. Magazine Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year - ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument. One hung-over morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn to a revival tent where the local Métis have been flocking to hear a charismatic preacher. By the time she staggers into the tent the service is over, but as she is about to leave, she hears an unmistakable voice.She turns, and there is Victor. Only he insists he is not Victor, but the Reverend Eugene Wolff, on a mission to bring his people to Jesus.With only two allies - her Johnny-Cash-loving, 12-year-old nephew Zeus, and Ajean, a foul-mouthed euchre shark with deep knowledge of the old Métis ways - Joan sets out to remind the Reverend Wolff of who he really is. If he really is Victor, his life and the life of everyone she loves, depends upon her success.Inspired by traditional Métis legends, Cherie Dimaline has created a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel.By Harini Nagendra. 2022
'A gorgeous debut mystery with a charming and fearless sleuth . . . spellbinding' SUJATA MASSEY'Told with real warmth and…
wit. . . A perfect read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Vaseem Khan' - ABIR MUKHERJEE'A cosy mystery that warmly illuminates a time and place not often examined in fiction' VASEEM KHAN'A beautifully painted picture of a woman's life in 1920s India' M W CRAVEN'A delight' CATRIONA MCPHERSON'The classic whodunnit with the added appeal of a female sleuth in Colonial India. . . fascinating' RHYS BOWENMurder and mayhem . . . monsoon season is coming._____________________________Solving crimes isn't easy.Add a jealous mother-in-law and having to wear a flowing sari into the mix, and you've got a problem.When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry doctor Ramu, she's resigned herself to a quiet life.But that all changes the night of the party at the Century Club, where she escapes to the garden for some peace - and instead spots an uninvited guest in the shadows. Half an hour later, the party turns into a murder scene. When a vulnerable woman is connected to the crime, Kaveri becomes determined to save her and launches a private investigation to find the killer, tracing his steps from an illustrious brothel to an Englishman's mansion. She soon finds that sleuthing in a sari isn't as hard as it seems when you have a talent for maths, a head for logic and a doctor for a husband.And she's going to need them all as the case leads her deeper into a hotbed of danger, sedition and intrigue in Bangalore's darkest alleyways . . .BOOK ONE IN THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB SERIES*INCLUDES A BONUS CHAPTER OF DELICIOUS INDIAN RECIPES* ___________If you love murder mystery series like Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Vaseem Khan's Baby Ganesh Agency and Ovidia Yu's Crown Colony series, you won't want to miss THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB, Book One in a brand new series from Harini Nagendra'Told with real warmth and wit. . . Harini Nagendra has created an intricate and fiendish mystery with a wonderful duo of amateur sleuths Kaveri and Ramu at its heart, and capturing the atmosphere and intensity of Bangalore in the roaring twenties. I can't wait for the next instalment. A perfect read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Vaseem Khan' - ABIR MUKHERJEE'Riveting. [Nagendra's] use of colonial history is thoroughly fascinating, with devastating depictions of the airy condescension of the British. A fine start to a promising series' BOOKLIST Starred Review'Harini Nagendra takes us to a wonderfully unfamiliar world in this delightful debut mystery. . .I couldn't put it down' VICTORIA THOMPSON, USA Today bestselling author of Murder on Madison Square'Absolutely charming . . . this one is a winner!' CONNIE BERRY, USA Today best-selling and Agatha-nominated author of The Kate Hamilton Mysteries.'This lush mystery will transport you to heady 1920s Bangalore, where new bride Kaveri stumbles into sleuthing-while dragging her doctor-husband into the fray. Mouth-watering fashion and food set against simmering colonial intrigue in this delicious whodunit can be devoured in one sitting.' SUMI HAHN author of The Mermaid from Jeju'I loved The Bangalore Detectives Club . . . Kaveri especially is charming' Ovidia Yu, author of The Cannonball Tree MysteryBy Alys Conran. 2019
Magda lives alone in her a huge house by the sea. Bad tempered and elderly, Magda does not need help…
from anyone, despite being wheelchair bound. With her sharp tongue, she gets through carers at a rate of knots, until Susheela arrives. And Susheela, it turns out, is in even more trouble than Magda. Still reeling from the recent death of her mum and trying to prop up her dad who is at risk of losing the family business, she finds she is pregnant. The future suddenly looks uncertain and frightening. But Magda and Susheela strike up an unlikely and sometimes uneasy friendship. Magda finds herself thinking back to her early childhood in colonial India before she was sent "home" to England; a childhood filled with servants and privilege but also terrible secrets. We also follow the story of her mother, Evelyn, once a warm hearted, and free spirited school teacher who slowly has all life and optimism ground away by a controlling husband and the misery of being a respectable member of the ruling classes. What becomes clear is that Evelyn searched for home for a long time, just like Magda, just like Susheela. And Magda begins to realise that home might not be a fortress to be ferociously defended, but may mean something else altogether. Thoughtful, clever, and beautifully observed Dignity considers the legacy of the Raj in Britain today, but more importantly what it means to belong to a place and to other people.(p) Orion Publishing Group Ltd 2019By Holly Thompson. 2001
Caitlin Ober is back in Japan, teaching English in Kyushu. Some 15 years ago, as a little girl, Caitlin lived…
in Kyoto, but a tragic accident drove her and her family back to America. Now guilt obscures her path, just as ashfall from a nearby volcano covers Kagoshima in dust. In a garden Caitlin meets a teenage half-Japanese girl, Naomi, who may be someone Caitlin can save this time around. Together the two travel to Kyoto during O-Bon, the festival when the dead return. Amid bonfires, temple grounds, and ghostly memories, Caitlin bravely embraces her future. Ash is a bittersweet novel of redemptive beauty, of startling images and alluring details.Holly Thompson lives in Kamakura and writes frequently about Japan. This is her first novel.By Chen Zeping, Karen Gernant, Can Xue, Porochista Khakpour. 2008
Though the story of Liujin, a young woman seeking a new kind of human freedom, Frontier attempts to unify the…
grand opposites of life--barbarism and civilization, the spiritual and the material, the mundane and the sublime, beauty and death, Eastern and Western cultures. A layered, multifaceted masterpiece from the 2015 winner of the Best Translated Book Award.By Allen Say. 2005
Using two very different and remarkable styles of art, Caldecott medalist Allen Say tells a tale within a tale, transporting…
readers seamlessly to the Japan of his childhood, when he used to come running with the children of his own neighborhood at the sound of the kamishibai man's clappers.By Paulo Coelho. 2010
Andalusian shepherd boy Santiago travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried…
in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within.Since its first printing The Alchemist has been translated into seventy-one languages and sold forty million copies worldwide, establishing itself as a modern classic that will enchant and inspire readers for generations to come. Beautifully rendered, The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel is a must have for any collector's library.Acclaimed illustrator Daniel Sampere brings Paulo Coelho's classic to new life in this gorgeously illustrated graphic novel adaptation.By Li Miao Lovett. 2010
"An important, even invaluable book, a moving farewell to the old, more humane way of life as China and all…
the world become technologized and globalized."-Maxine Hong KingstonA dam rises on the Yangtze, uprooting a million lives in a government-made, modern environmental and human rights disaster, and a poor salvager who has lost everything finds an abandoned baby girl. A tale of defiance, of a lost man finding his place-and a new kind of love-in modern China, and of a rich man reclaiming his soul and the woman he loved before the revolution tore them apart.By John J. Healey. 2016
A sumptuous novel inspired by one of history’s most intriguing forgotten chapters—the arrival of Japanese Samurai on the shores of…
Europe.In 1614, twenty-two Samurai warriors and a group of tradesmen from Japan sailed to Spain, where they initiated one of the most intriguing cultural exchanges in history. They were received with pomp and circumstance, first by King Philip III and later by Pope Paul V. They were the first Japanese to visit Europe and they caused a sensation. They remained for two years and then most of the party returned to Japan; however, six of the Samurai stayed behind, settling in a small fishing village close to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where their descendants live to this day. Healey imbues this tale of the meeting of East and West with uncommon emotional and intellectual intensity and a rich sense of place. He explores the dueling mentalities of two cultures through a singular romance; the sophisticated, restrained warrior culture of Japan and the baroque sensibilities of Renaissance Spain, dark and obsessed with ethnic cleansing. What one culture lives with absolute normality is experienced as exotic from the outsider’s eye. Everyone is seen as strange at first and then—with growing familiarity—is revealed as being more similar than originally perceived, but with the added value of enduring idiosyncrasies.The story told in this novel is an essential and timeless one about the discoveries and conflicts that arise from the forging of relationships across borders, both geographical and cultural.By Harini Nagendra. 2022
Murder and mayhem . . . monsoon season is coming. Solving crimes isn't easy. Add a jealous mother-in-law and having…
to wear a flowing sari into the mix, and you've got a problem. When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry doctor Ramu, she's resigned herself to a quiet life. But that all changes the night of the party at the Century Club, where she escapes to the garden for some peace—and instead spots an uninvited guest in the shadows. Half an hour later, the party turns into a murder scene. When a vulnerable woman is connected to the crime, Kaveri becomes determined to save her and launches a private investigation to find the killer, tracing his steps from an illustrious brothel to an Englishman's mansion. She soon finds that sleuthing in a sari isn't as hard as it seems when you have a talent for maths, a head for logic and a doctor for a husband. And she's going to need them all as the case leads her deeper into a hotbed of danger, sedition and intrigue in Bangalore's darkest alleyways . . ..By Harini Nagendra. 2022
'The first in an effervescent new mystery series. . . a treat for historical mystery lovers looking for a new…
series to savor (or devour)' NEW YORK TIMESMurder and mayhem . . . monsoon season is coming. _____________________________ Solving crimes isn't easy. Add a jealous mother-in-law and having to wear a flowing sari into the mix, and you've got a problem. When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry doctor Ramu, she's resigned herself to a quiet life. But that all changes the night of the party at the Century Club, where she escapes to the garden for some peace - and instead spots an uninvited guest in the shadows. Half an hour later, the party turns into a murder scene. When a vulnerable woman is connected to the crime, Kaveri becomes determined to save her and launches a private investigation to find the killer, tracing his steps from an illustrious brothel to an Englishman's mansion. She soon finds that sleuthing in a sari isn't as hard as it seems when you have a talent for maths, a head for logic and a doctor for a husband. And she's going to need them all as the case leads her deeper into a hotbed of danger, sedition and intrigue in Bangalore's darkest alleyways . . . BOOK ONE IN THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB SERIES INCLUDES A BONUS CHAPTER OF DELICIOUS INDIAN RECIPES ___________ 'A gorgeous debut mystery with a charming and fearless sleuth . . . spellbinding' SUJATA MASSEY 'Told with real warmth and wit. . . A perfect read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Vaseem Khan' ABIR MUKHERJEE 'A cosy mystery that warmly illuminates a time and place not often examined in fiction' VASEEM KHAN 'A beautifully painted picture of a woman's life in 1920s India' M W CRAVEN 'A delight' CATRIONA MCPHERSON 'The classic whodunnit with the added appeal of a female sleuth in Colonial India. . . fascinating' RHYS BOWEN 'Told with real warmth and wit. . . Nagendra has created an intricate and fiendish mystery... A perfect read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Vaseem Khan' - ABIR MUKHERJEE 'Riveting. [Nagendra's] use of colonial history is thoroughly fascinating, with devastating depictions of the airy condescension of the British. A fine start to a promising series' BOOKLIST Starred Review 'Harini Nagendra takes us to a wonderfully unfamiliar world in this delightful debut mystery. . .I couldn't put it down' VICTORIA THOMPSON'Absolutely charming . . . this one is a winner!' CONNIE BERRY'An enjoyable trip back in time with a spunky young woman for company.' R V RAMAN'Mouth-watering fashion and food set against simmering colonial intrigue in this delicious whodunit can be devoured in one sitting.' SUMI HAHN'I loved The Bangalore Detectives Club . . . Kaveri especially is charming.' OVIDIA YU'Nagendra makes her fiction debut with an exceptional series launch. . . rich, edifying, and authentic' Publishers Weekly, Starred Review 'Deliciously exotic' Sunday PostBy Salar Abdoh. 2014
"Abdoh paints a gripping portrait of a nation awash in violence and crippled by corruption....Captivating."--Publishers WeeklyIncluded Library Journal's "Books That…
Buzzed at BEA" Roundup, the first word on titles and trends from Barbara Hoffert, EditorIncluded in Publishers Weekly's Fall Preview (Literary Fiction)"Abdoh deftly captures the uneasy atmosphere of 2008 Tehran, swirling with betrayal and corruption."--Library Journal, Books for the Masses/Editors' Picks BEA 2014"Tehran at Twilight is a remarkable meditation on violence, and on all the ways one bears witness to pain...At the center lies the story of two friends whose paths have diverged, and of love restored between a mother and a son. A smart, eloquent novel."--Dalia Sofer, author of The Septembers of Shiraz"Connecting the dots of the shadow lives of Iranian, American, and Iranian American double and triple agents, and their double and triple stories in Iran and Manhattan, Baghdad and Berkeley, Abdoh also tells a tale of mothers and sons, using espionage for infrared insight into concealed identities. The startling truth embedded in this tight novel: We Are All Iranians."--Brad Gooch, author of City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O'Hara"Tehran--bloated, capricious, corrupt, and with its various secret police agencies competing against one another--becomes a ripe setting for this roman noir...Move over Scandinavia: there's a new kid on the noir block."--Hooman Majd, author of The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay"A smart political thriller for our modern times."--Laila Lalami, author of Secret SonThe year is 2008. Reza Malek's life is modest but manageable--he lives in a small apartment in Harlem, teaches "creative reportage" at a local university, and is relieved to be far from the blood and turmoil of Iraq and Afghanistan where he worked as a reporter, interpreter, and sometime lover for a superstar journalist who has long since moved on to more remarkable men.After a terse phone call from his best friend in Iran, Sina Vafa, Reza reluctantly returns to Tehran. Once there, he finds far more than he bargained for: the city is on the edge of revolution; his friend Sina is embroiled with Shia militants; his missing mother, who was alleged to have run off with a lover before the revolution, is alive and well--while his own life is in danger.Against a backdrop of corrupt clerics, shady fixers, political repression, and the ever-present threat of violence, Abdoh offers a telling glimpse into contemporary Tehran, and spins a compelling morality tale of identity and exile, the bonds of friendship, and the limits of loyalty.By Tahira Naqvi, Ismat Chughtai. 1995
In India's colonial past, in a time of political and social revolution, Ismat Chughtai masterfully unfolds her magna opus, The…
Crooked Line: the semi-autobiographical tale of a fiery-spirited, middle-class Muslim girl bent on exploring the shape and nature of consuming desire. Writing with the same honesty and passion as her scandalous short-story, "The Quilt," Chughtai exposes the complex relationships developed between women living and working in relative seclusion, and the intellectual and emotional contradictions lying in the heart of a rebellious country on the brink of independence from the British Raj and ultimately Partition.By Alys Conran. 2019
Shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year award'I loved this... Magda is a real stand-out character for me in…
books I've read recently, I can't quite stop thinking about her' Jane Garvey, BBC Woman's Hour 'Brilliant... A truly convincing state-of-the-nation novel' Daily Mail 'Packs a powerful punch and makes you smile while breaking your heart'Woman's Weekly 'Fierce and compassionate'Mail on Sunday 'Conran's work is subtle and complex: there is no one right story about the Empire. Instead we are offered multiple views, ironies and contradictions that only one of most talented, tender writers in Wales could portray'New Welsh Review 'Fierce, compassionate, angry, but above all, heart-breakingly real. I was drawn in from the very first page'Claire Fuller, author of Bitter Orange 'An Indian household can no more be governed peacefully without dignity and prestige, than an Indian Empire' The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook, Flora Annie Steel & Grace Gardiner Magda is a former scientist with a bad temper and a sharp tongue, now living alone in a huge house by the sea. Confined to a wheelchair, her once spotless home crumbling around her, she gets through carers at a rate of knots. Until Susheela arrives, bursting through the doors of Magda's house, carrying life with her: grief for her mother's recent death; worry for her father; longing for a beautiful and troubled young man.The two women strike up an unlikely friendship: Magda's old-fashioned, no-nonsense attitude turns out to be an unexpected source of strength for Susheela; and Susheela's Bengali heritage brings back memories of Magda's childhood in colonial India and resurrects the tragic figure of her mother, Evelyn, and her struggle to fit within the suffocating structure of the Raj's ruling class. But as Magda digs deeper into her past, she unlocks a shocking legacy of blood that threatens to destroy the careful order she has imposed on her life - and that might just be the key to give the three women, Evelyn, Magda and Susheela, a place they can finally call home.'An exquisite novel: compassionate, beautiful and unflinching. I'm full of admiration for the skill with which it draws connections between the past and present, and manages to feel both timeless and achingly contemporary'Fiona McFarlane, author of The Night GuestBy Anindya Sinha, Sharada Srinivasan, Jerri Daboo, Cathy Turner. 2022
This edited volume considers performance in its engagement with expanding Indian cities, with a particular focus on festivals and performances…
in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The editors ask how performance practices are affected by urbanisation, the effects of such changes on their cultural economy, and the environmental impacts of performance itself. This project also considers how performance responds to its context, and the potential for performance to be critical of the city’s development, and of its own compromises. Bringing together perspectives from the humanities, natural and social sciences, the book takes a multi-faceted analytical view of live performance, connecting contemporary with heritage forms, and human with more-than-human actors. The three sections, themed around heritage, everyday life, and future ecologies, will be of great interest to students and scholars in performance, heritage studies, ecology and art history.By Gina B. Nahai. 2014
Longlisted for the 2016 International Dublin Literary AwardFinalist for the Jewish Book Council's 2014 JJ Greenberg Memorial Award"Lyrical, shrewd, and…
daring novelist Nahai...writes with acute emotional and nearly anthropological perception, laser-wit, and deep compassion....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"A wide-ranging, page-turning, magical realist, multigenerational family saga and Iranian-Jewish-American immigration tale enveloped in a murder mystery...it both entertains and instructs, and its differing genres seem more complimentary than conflicting."--New York Journal of Books"Nahai has crafted an engaging combination of family saga and murder mystery, placed it in the framework of a relatively unknown subculture, and people it with fascinating characters. Flavored with both elements of magical realism and down-to-earth observations, The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. brings a little-known Los Angeles community to vivid life."--Shelf Awareness"What results is a novel that feels more universal than anything, and an engrossing, expansive epic that charts not only thousands years of Iranian Jewish life, but the brutality of one family's survival amidst revolution and cultural upheaval."--Kirkus Reviews, Feature on Gina B. Nahai"A bold, brave novel...as surprising as it is satisfying....Captivating."--Forbes"One of the many pleasures of this sprawling, multigenerational story is the way it transcends the specifics of the Iranian diaspora with insights that could apply to anyone."--LA Weekly"One of Nahai's gifts is her astute observation of this community, her own, which she describes with unsparing precision."--Los Angeles Review of Books"The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. is a masterpiece that is simultaneously poetic in its unfurling, trans-generational plot, and brutally to the point in the style of a hard-boiled crime novel...This is a book you should not miss."--San Francisco Book Review"Nahai's eye for detail, whether it's succinctly summing up a funeral or providing a description of a Tehran summer, always seems to be spot on."--PopMatters"An intriguing murder-mystery journey anchored within the Iranian-Jewish community of Los Angeles. Vivid and raw...Nahai masterfully introduces us to the mythical and mundane layers that make up Iranian-American identity."--Washington Independent Review of Books"This is irresistible storytelling...Nahai uses her estimable gifts to offer a nuanced, sometimes satirical portrait of the tight-knit Iranian-Jewish exile community in Los Angeles...It's a fascinating read."--BookPageFrom Tehran to Los Angeles, The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. is a sweeping saga that tells the story of the Soleymans, an Iranian Jewish family tormented for decades by Raphael's Son, a crafty and unscrupulous financier who has futilely claimed to be an heir to the family's fortune. Forty years later in contemporary Los Angeles, Raphael's Son has nearly achieved his goal--until he suddenly disappears, presumed by many to have been murdered. The possible suspects are legion: his long-suffering wife; numerous members of the Soleyman clan exacting revenge; the scores of investors he bankrupted in a Ponzi scheme; or perhaps even his disgruntled bookkeeper and longtime confidant.Award-winning novelist Gina B. Nahai pulls back the curtain on a close-knit community that survived centuries of persecution in Iran before settling and thriving in the United States, but now finds itself divided to the core by one of its own members. By turns hilarious and