In the Walled Gardens

(Paperback)

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A stunning debut and a fascinating love story ... Romeo and Juliet in tehran. this beautiful first novel conjures up a world that is now gone - an exotic, seductive place just before the revolution in Iran. Mahastee and Reza loved each other as children, when Reza's family worked for Mahastee's in a more noble time now long past. they have not seen each other since they were sixteen, and now chance has reunited them. Mahastee is now married to a man who is well-established and well-connected politically, a man she has grown to despise. Reza has grown up to become a revolutionary, leading underground meetings and living at the edge of fear. their encounters are a portrait not only of an ill-fated love, but a country at odds with itself moving ever-closer to a doomed collision.

Reviews

"A luminous debut.... A well-crafted portrait of human love trapped in the vortex of history."
"Firouz crafts dialogue that is profound at the appropriate time, while also being, as the occasion demands, witty, cynical, and even self-deprecating.... I can testify to her skill in revealing the great hypocrisy among Iran's idle rich."
"Firouz expertly brings to life the tense atmosphere of the years before the Iranian revolution."
"Firouz's sarcasm often proves her best weapon.... There's an apocalyptic beauty in IN THE WALLED GARDENS. Romance is braided into Firouz's light-and-dark chapters with a restrained elegance, even as Iran's past crumbles and revolution looms."

Author Bio

Anahita Firouz was born in Iran and earned a Masters degree from Boston University. After studying at the Sorbonne, she returned to Iran, before leaving in 1980 for the United States. This is her first novel, based loosely on the story of her grandparents' lives in pre-revolutionary Iran.