Product Description

On an autumn day in London, the dark secrets and troubled past of Maryam Mazar surface violently with tragic consequences for her pregnant daughter, Sara, and her newly orphaned nephew, Saeed. Racked with guilt, Maryam is compelled to leave the safe comfort of her suburban home and mild English husband to return to Mazareh, the remote village on Iran's north-eastern border where her story began. There she must face her past and the memories of a life she was forced to leave behind. In her quest to piece the family back together, Sara follows her mother to Iran, to discover the roots of her unhappiness and to try to bring her home. Far from the terraced streets of London, among the snow-capped mountains and windswept plains that have haunted her mother's dreams for half a century, Sara finally learns about the terrible price Maryam once had to pay for her freedom, and about the love of the man who still waits for her.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83906 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
** 'Time and time again the novel disarms the reader by capturing emotions in a simple yet startlingly perceptive way ... marks Yasmin Crowther out as a novelist of exceptional honesty and grace' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ** 'A delicate bittersweet examination of the nature of home and homesickness' DAILY MAIL ** 'Bittersweet ...Crowther's novel unfolds at a leisurely pace, vividly conjuring physical and emotional landscapes' OBSERVER 'This debut novel is a delicate, bittersweet examination of the nature of home and homesickness, and a salient reminder of the way the past can haunt the present with subtle, heart-breaking persistence' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Accomplished...memorable' SUNDAY TIMES 'Lyrical... As a guide to the subtle complexities of family life The Saffron Kitchen is inspired; as a study of the flipside of the cultural divide it is intelligent and probing, an impressive debut' SCOTSMAN 'Yasmin Crowther writes well about exile and the price of freedom' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Bittersweet ...Crowther's novel unfolds at a leisurely pace, vividly conjuring physical and emotional landscapes' OBSERVER 'An unusual and satisfying read' GUARDIAN

Crowther's uneven debut, split between London and Iran, traces the journey a mother and daughter make to close the distance between their lives.A tragic accident begins the tale, unraveling life-as-usual for Maryam and her daughter Sara. When Maryam hits her nephew Saeed (who, following the death of his mother in Iran, now lives in London with Maryam and husband Edward), she sends the frightened boy running to a bridge. Sara chases him, and in the struggle, miscarries her child. Before Sara even leaves the hospital, Maryam is off to Iran, guilty, disconsolate, unable to sustain the fragile patchwork of her past and present. Back in Iran, in the rural village where she spent idyllic summers, she reflects on the troubled year that the Shah was returned to power and she was banished from home. With her father, a wealthy general, high-spirited Maryam and her two sisters live a privileged life. She even has an English tutor, young Ali, who is teaching her Matthew Arnold's classic poem, "Dover Beach." Her nanny Fatima binds her breasts to keep her seemingly girlish, but her father is considering marriage for her while Maryam dreams of travel and a life away from her father's restrictions. An unavoidable and innocent indiscretion with Ali dishonors her father, who then disowns her. Maryam becomes a nurse, goes to England and marries sweet Edward, while she recites "Dover Beach" to the sea, hoping her voice will reach Ali. While Maryam indulges in her reveries and reconnects with Ali, Sara and Edward attempt to get on with life in England. Edward has given up, believing Maryam will never return-in fact, was never really his-and Sara, now caring for Saeed, tries to understand why a lost childhood in Iran is more vital to her mother than the ensuing 30 years in England with the family she created. Indeed, it is a question readers will ask-and that Sara poses when she eventually travels to Iran-but one that Maryam is unable to adequately answer. Though Crowther builds an evocative portrait of Iran and the painful pull of two cultures, too much of the novel hinges on an overly enigmatic character and her vague longing for the indefinable idea of home. (Kirkus Reviews)

FT, May 2006
'Yasmin Crowther tells this cross-cultural drama with skill. The writing is restrained but powerful'

Mail on Sunday, May 2006
'This debut novel is a delicate, bittersweet examination of the nature of home and homesickness'

Customer Reviews

I loved this book
I loved this story. It was a bit slow getting started but I found myself drawn into the characters and the cultures which unfolded beautifully evoking insightful images of the mixing of two cultures and two countries. The emotional climax of the book moved me to tears partly as it was related with such beauty, care and understanding, as injuries of the past are released at last. A really beautiful book in so many ways.

Sandra Hillawi

Could have been so much more!
I usually really enjoy this genre of novel and was really looking forward to reading this.
The beautiful cover and the synopsis of the story are really attractive, however, I was badly let down by the actual story.
The idea for the story is wonderful but the actual telling lets it down badly.
I felt that there could have been so much more about the history of Iran and the treatment of women, which was touched upon but in no great detail.
I really didnt like the Mother character, therefore was unable to empathise with her, even when I learnt her shocking revelation I was not really bothered because by that time, I didnt really care anymore.
A real shame, as I was looking forward to this read.

Readable but only just
In truth I was a little disappointed with this book partly as it had such an interesting premise. Set against the back drop of some of the most interesting times of Iranian history the story fails to capitalise on either the coup of Moussadegh or the events of the Islamic revolution. Though the author draws little on Iranian history one does at least get a taste of Persian culture and though the author is part Iranian herself one gets the distinct feeling that the author seems to have a slight inferiority complex with the English characters in the book being calm, understanding and always loving and the Iranian characters seem irrational mini-despots who entertain all sorts of prejudices. The story itself is fairly simple, it tells the timeless tale of lovers denied and growing up in separate corners of the world only to reunite at journeys end. Whilst the story isn't bad in itself there is nothing that particular sells this book or makes it orignal and it deserves to belong firmly in an anonymous mediocrity.