National Book Award Finalist: βA multigenerational epic of the Sadr familyβs life in Iran and their eventual exile .Β .Β . Full of surprisesβ (The Globe and Mail).
Winner of the 2019 Albertine Prize and Lambda Literary Award
KimiΓ’ Sadr fled Iran at the age of ten in the company of her mother and sisters to join her father in France. Now twenty-five and facing the future she has built for herself, as well as the prospect of a new generation, KimiΓ’ is inundated by her own memories and the stories of her ancestors, which come to her in unstoppable, uncontainable waves. In the waiting room of a Parisian fertility clinic, generations of flamboyant Sadrs return to her, including her formidable great-grandfather Montazemolmolk, with his harem of fifty-two wives, and her parents, Darius and Sara, stalwart opponents of each regime that befalls them.
It is KimiΓ’ herselfβpunk-rock aficionado, storyteller extraordinaire, a Scheherazade of our time, and above all a modern woman divided between family traditions and her own βdisorientalizationββwho forms the heart of this bestselling and beloved novel, recipient of numerous literary honors.
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βWhere initially Disoriental seems focused on KimiΓ’βs father and his pro-democracy activismβfirst against the Shah, then the Ayatollah Khomeiniβthis is truly KimiΓ’βs story of disorientationβnational, familial and sexualβand finding herself again.β βThe Globe and Mail
βA tour de force of storytelling .Β .Β . Djavadi deftly weaves together the history of 20th-century Iran [and] the spellbinding chronicle of her own ancestors. .Β .Β . Perfectly blends historical fact with contemporary themes.β βLibrary Journal
βRiveting .Β .Β . Djavadi is an immensely gifted storyteller, and KimiΓ’βs tale is especially compelling.β βBooklistΒ (starred review)
βA wonder and a pleasure to read.β βRivka Galchen, author ofΒ Atmospheric Disturbances
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WINNER 2019 ALBERTINE PRIZE
WINNER 2019 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD
FINALIST 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
FINALIST 2019 CLMP FIRECRACKER AWARD
FINALIST 2019 BEST TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD
WINNER LE PRIX DU ROMAN NEWS
WINNER STYLE PRIZE
WINNER 2016Β LIREΒ BEST DEBUT NOVEL
WINNER LA PORTE DORΓE PRIZE
ONE OFΒ THE GLOBE & MAILβSΒ BEST BOOKS OF 2018