The "girl" is actually 2 girls -- Mahboubeh who is a grown woman living in CA in the present day, or at least more contemporary time, and Rakhel, an aunt who lived in a Jewish community in Iran earlier in the 20th century. Mahboubeh is tending her garden and re-living, almost channeling memories of that past time -- because much of it precedes her own childhood. Rakhel came to the Malacouti family as a young (13?) bride for the first son, Ascher. The family is wealthy, well-respected as grain merchants and is ruled by the kindly but traditional matriarch Zolahah. Another young bride Khorsheed (Mahboubeh's mother) belongs to the younger, weaker brother Ibrahim, but is first to produce an heir. Meanwhile Rakhel remains childless. The dynamic this sets up and the tension it creates is really at the heart of the story. As an audio book it was tricky to catch the names as well as many cultural terms both from the Jewish and Muslim traditions that existed side by side, peacefully for the most part. It was fascinating to see how essential women's reproduction was to their worth. This book does a good job of capturing the time periods, the historical and cultural backgrounds and the relationships among the characters. The story is rounded out by the presence of Kocab, who becomes a second wife to Ascher. The women's bravery and self-possession (and subversion) is inspiring in the face of the male domination that is their way of life. Unfortunately, there is no "winning." I felt it ended a little abruptly and there were some plot lines I would have like to see pursued/wrapped up, but that could have been some inattentive listening on my part. Solid, worthwhile story. ( )

Really enjoyed this debut. ( )

Beautifully written, sad and poetic. An insight into a way of life that feels like it must be long gone, but this book takes place in the fifties in Iran, during a time when a woman's role was to make the dinner, have babies, and keep her face covered.
Made me temporarily hate all men.
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One of People Magazine’s pick of the “Best New Books”. Foroutan weaves a powerful tale of a Persian Jewish family inspired by her own history. Her paradise was a cultivated place set apart from the vast wilderness in the city of Kermansha. The city is located in the west of Iran close to the border of Iraq. Her audience is privileged to enter into her garden, listen to her tale, and experience the life and traditions of Iranian Jews at that time and place. It is a suspenseful novel of obsession, power, and vulnerability.

It's not this books fault that it wasn't what I wanted it to be. I wanted a book about Irani Jews transtioning to life in the United States, this was about an older Irani woman looking back on her life, remembering the impact of her aunt, a woman who married as a teenager into a wealthy Jew family and was unable to give her husband a son and so was judged without value by the mores of the day.

A novel about frustrated desires, gendered spaces, and patriarchy told with an almost cinematic flow. But I still didn't care for it much.

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