The Girl from the Garden, Parnaz Foroutan
The Girl from the Garden, Parnaz Foroutan
3 Rating(s)
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The Girl from the Garden
A Novel

Author: Parnaz Foroutan

Narrator: Lameece Issaq

Unabridged: 7 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 08/18/2015


Synopsis

An extraordinary new writer makes her literary debut with this suspenseful novel of desire, obsession, power and vulnerability, in which a crisis of inheritance leads to the downfall of a wealthy family of Persian Jews in early twentieth-century Iran.For all his wealth and success, Asher Malacouti—the head of a prosperous Jewish family living in the Iranian town of Kermanshah—cannot have the one thing he desires above all: a male son. His young wife Rakhel, trapped in an oppressive marriage at a time when a woman’s worth is measured by her fertility, is made desperate by her failure to conceive, and grows jealous and vindictive.Her despair is compounded by her sister-in-law Khorsheed’s pregnancy and her husband’s growing desire for Kokab, his cousin’s wife. Frustrated by his wife’s inability to bear him an heir, Asher makes a fateful choice that will shatter the household and drive Rakhel to dark extremes to save herself and preserve her status within the family.Witnessed through the memories of the family’s only surviving daughter, Mahboubeh, now an elderly woman living in Los Angeles, The Girl from the Garden unfolds the complex, tragic history of her family in a long-lost Iran of generations past. Haunting, suspenseful and inspired by events in the author’s own family, it is an evocative and poignant exploration of sacrifice, betrayal, and the indelible legacy of the families that forge us.

About Parnaz Foroutan

Parnaz Foroutan is the author of Home is a Stranger and The Girl from the Garden. She was born in Iran and spent her early childhood there. She received PEN USA's Emerging Voices fellowship for this novel, which was inspired by her own family history. She has been named to the Hedgebrook fellowship and residency, and received funding from the Elizabeth George Foundation, among other institutions. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.


Reviews

“The Girl from the Garden” is a story of a wealthy Persian Jewish family living in Iran at the beginning of the 20th Century. It’s more of an account of women’s cultural plight at that time. Although these women were fed well and surrounded by monetary beauty, their lives were ones of male servitude......more

Goodreads review by Emily

A haunting tale of oppression, longing, and the devastating choices made from shame and envy. Across two timelines, we see the disastrous consequences of equating a woman’s worth to her ability to bear sons. Through beautiful and sorrowful prose, The Girl from the Garden is a chilling remembrance of......more

Goodreads review by Sharon

The Girl From Garden is the debut masterpiece from Parnaz Faroutan and another one added to my favourite reads this year. It is a powerful tale of desire, obsession, jealousy, power and vulnerability and ultimately the downfall of a wealthy Persian-Jewish family set in the early twentieth century. Ma......more

Goodreads review by Mina

A kalidescope of emotions....envy, jealousy, sorrow....all set in a wealthy Jewish families home. ...it did take me a moment to get into the ebb and flow of the book going back and forth between the recollections of Mahboubeh and what happened in the past..........more