A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK ' As heart-wrenching as it is achingly beautiful' Sadeqa
Johnson author of The House of Eve ' Heartbreaking and life affirming' Adrienne
Brodeur author of Little Monsters ' Courage friendship loyalty hardship love – this
novel has everything' Mary Beth Keane Ask Again Yes From the author of The Stationery
Shop of Tehran a heartfelt epic new novel of friendship betrayal and redemption set against
three transformative decades in Tehran Iran. In 1950s Tehran seven-year-old Ellie lives in
grand comfort until the untimely death of her father forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a
tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances Ellie
dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation. Luckily on the first day of school she meets
Homa a kind passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together the two girls
play games learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home wander through the colorful
stalls of the Grand Bazaar and share their ambitions for becoming ' lion women.' But
their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return
to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran
Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later however her sudden reappearance in
Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives. Together the two young
women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political
turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous
consequences. Praise for Marjan Kamali ‘Evocative devastating and hauntingly beautiful’
Whitney Scharer author of The Age of Light ‘A beautifully immersive tale’ Jasmin Darznik
author of The Good Daughter and Song of a Captive Bird ‘At once masterfully plotted
beautifully written and populated by characters who are arresting lovable and so real’
Elinor Lipman author of Turpentine Lane ‘A sweeping romantic tale of thwarted love’ Kirkus
Reviews ‘Enchanting’ My Weekly
