The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
KEY SELLING POINTS
• Setting: Iran, 1970s, 1980s
• SHORTLISTED for the 2018 Stella Prize + 2018 Queensland University Fiction Award
• The moving voice of the young (dead) narrator keeps this harrowing story from being too dark, however tragic the story elements are. It is moving, emotional, and heartbreaking at times, but the narrative voice makes the heartbreak worthwhile
• Simultaneously a modern yet mythical retelling of the Iranian Revolution, draws stylistically from Persian storytelling traditions
• A window into Islamic revolution and geopolitics in the Islamic world
• Narrated by a 13-year-old Iranian girl
• Book was originally written and translated from Farsi
• Injustices: the regime orders book burnings, the destruction of ancient Persian cultural artifacts, and arbitrary arrests and executions without trial
• For readers of Europa’s Disoriental by Négar Djavadi
Marketing & Publicity
• Interview with author available at Los Angeles Review of Books
• Pitching to O, The Oprah Magazine
• Women in translation reviewers
• PEN America
• Words Without Borders
• Bookseller blurbs
• Indie Next List campaign
• Amazon editorial
• Preorder campaign
• Women’s History Month + Women in Translation Month promotion
• Academic marketing (inclusion at academic conferences + AWP)
• Egalleys available on Net Galley & Edelweiss
• Galleys available
Editor's Note
Booker nominee…
Shokoofeh Azar’s novel is nominated for the 2020 International Booker Prize. The judges said it’s “A wild, humorous revisitation of Persian myths and fables, filled with brutal scenes of contemporary life. A ghostly portrait of a family caught in the abject violence of political unrest.”
Shokoofeh Azar
Shokoofeh Azar is an author of essays, articles, children's books, and novels as well as the first Iranian woman to hitchhike the entire length of the Silk Road. Her first novel, The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, was shortlisted for Australia's Stella Prize for Fiction and is her first novel to be translated into English. She moved to Australia as a political refugee in 2011.
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Reviews for The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
46 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this book. Also learned a lot about Iran's modern history.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was one of the oddest of bittersweet books I've read. I found it often delightful, sometimes disturbing, occasionally forgettable. That last bit sounds harsh--it is due to the structure. The book seems to be a halfway point between a standard novel and interlocking short stories, which is intriguing in concept, but I also didn't necessarily feel compelled to keep on to find out what's next. Honestly, it's not necessarily a criticism. I did like this book!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This started off great, with a family that fled Tehran for a very rural village before the Revolution. Then it went downhill with ghosts, a mermaid, and so on and so forth. I finished, but really all the fantasy/mystical stuff just did not interest me. I was interested in the family and their real, believable experiences.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a fantastic journey. A recommended read.
It's not your usual writing style but once you let yourself flow along and be carried (by the excellent translation), there is a story that will teach you, make you happy and sad, enlightened and grateful.
Definitely recommended.