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Karen R
Stunning Debut
This story grabbed me from the first paragraph. It is set in post-revolutionary Iran, and delves into how the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war forever changed families' lives. This was a war in which many thousands of people were executed, others spending years living in inhumane prison conditions. The author’s inspiration comes from her own family that was affected by this war, an uncle executed and her parents imprisoned. Those readers looking for a story that is action packed will not find that here. The chapters follow the normal routines of husbands, wives, fathers, sons, and daughters coping to make the best of an awful situation, their stories intertwining. The resilience of these people in such atrocious conditions is stunning. The details contained within will stay with me for a long time.
Laurie B. (Jacksonville, FL)
Well done, not a light read
Powerful story with interesting characters. Among other things demonstrates how we are more alike than different despite vastly different geographic and social settings. I would recommend this book.
Ariel F. (Madison, WI)
Gripping debut novel
I found Children of the Jacaranda Tree to be a gripping story of what happened in the Iranian revolution after the Shah was over thrown. I felt that while this was a novel, the author based it on what she had really heard that had happened to either family members or friends.
It was challenging reading due to some of its emotional content, beginning with a mother going into labor in a van on the way to prison. While many of the characters in the novel lived in fear, they were determined to make a good in spite of everything.
I would recommend this book to book clubs as a good discussion book.
Caroline R. (New Canaan, CT)
Children of the Jacaranda Tree
This is a multi-generational story about the inhumane and tragic treatment of people in post-revolutionary Iran. The presence of so many characters and so much suffering made it difficult to follow at times. I liked that the story started and ended with Neda with a spark of hope...
Lori L. (La Porte, IN)
Children of the Jacaranda Tree
Although this is a deeply sad book, I did enjoy it. It reminded me, in a way, of "The Kite Runner" in that it offered insight into the lives of individuals living under a brutal, repressive regime in the Middle East. The only thing lacking in this book was a sense of what life was like prior to the beatings, imprisonments, torture and death, so we know what the revolutionaries were fighting for. I would recommend this book to book clubs, particularly those with an interest in other cultures or historical fiction.
Sharon B. (Rome, GA)
Unintended Consequences
This is a novel about some of the children of imprisoned revolutionaries from the Iranian revolution when the Ayatollah Khomeini and his extreme Islamic followers seized power after the overthrow of the Shah. Apparently based on some of the experiences of the author's own family (she was born in 1983 in Iran, the same year as some of the characters), it describes in heartbreaking detail the consequences of a revolution that does not turn out as expected, even to some of the participants. Children being raised by grandparents while the parents are imprisoned, losing parents to mass executions, and being separated from early caregivers when the parents are released and choose to flee the country – all of these events leave scars that must be dealt with. Although well written and beautifully descriptive, this was a hard book to read, full of sadness and oppression and sorrow for a once-great country that is now a place of violence, fear and religious extremism.
Nancy L. (Denver, NC)
Children of the Jacaranda Tree
It's hard to believe that extremely religious people are so heartless. Even though that is the case in the US sometimes, it has never been as wicked as in Iran.
A child is born while the mother and father are in prison as revolutionaries. The mother's sisters are also in prison - their children being cared for by an aunt and grandmother. The family's story is continued into the following years with heartbreaking details as to how they are affected by their history. Sad but true.
Becky H
Interesting but Disappointing
I found this book to be both enormously interesting and vastly disjointed. It was difficult to follow the characters and time lines. Characters came and went with alarming frequency. Time jumped back and forth from the early days of the Iranian Revolution to the present with stops in the middle.
My attention was immediately captured in the first few paragraphs, but then the next chapter moved to another time and place with new characters and I was left lost and wondering. Perhaps this was the author’s intention as those same disjointed feelings were evident in each of the (many) characters.
Delijani captures the sense of loss and “disconnectedness” the characters felt as their lives were disrupted, ended and changed from moment to moment with no clear resolution in sight. The descriptions are lovely. The characters are generally well drawn. Situations are rendered in often harrowing clarity. However, I had a hard time with the younger generation. I couldn’t remember who the parents were or what had happened to them or worse, if I had even “met” them before.
I wish I could say I liked this book and give it 5 stars. I wanted to..…but….. The book needs a list of characters with notes to their relationships. A glossary would help, for example, a “manteau” was defined as a “medieval garment like a coat” in my dictionary, I’m still not clear on what kind of garment was meant.
I read this on an e-reader – perhaps not the best choice for this book. But thank you Net Galley who provided the book in exchange for this review.
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