3.5 Stars Source: Amazon
Brief Synopsis: In 1953 Tehran, two teenagers meet, fall in love, and plan to run off and get married. But when the boy, Bahman, never shows up at the rendezvous spot, Raya is left to wonder what happened on that fateful day. Fast forward 60 years later where a random encounter allows Raya to finally ask Bahman, "Why did you leave me?"
Thoughts: First off, this cover is, hands-down, the most beautiful piece of book art I've ever seen! You can't tell from the picture, but the gold parts reflect the light. It's exquisite.
This book was recommend by Modern Mrs. Darcy a while back and I've been waiting for the right time to read it. I decided to make it one of our book club's picks as a way to nudge me along. I liked the story just fine but I didn't love it like I expected. I think because the story takes place over such a long period of time, there wasn't the opportunity to truly explore major life events, they just seemed to happen. For example, when Raya is abandoned my Brahman, she leaves Iran and moves to the US, gets married and starts a life. That section was given a few chapters but then she had a son and within a few sentences he's an adult. I understand the reasoning behind this and it's acceptable to highlight key moments in a person's life in order to support the climatic moment but personally, I just wanted a little more depth. Overall, our book club enjoyed the story but I think everyone was expecting just a bit more.
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