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    Oddfellow's Orphanage

    Emily Winfield Martin 9780375869952

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Pomegranate Soup

by Marsha Mehran

Pomegranate Soup Cover

ISBN13: 9780812972481
ISBN10: 0812972481
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick, in damp and lovely County Mayo, sits the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sisters, Ireland looks like a much-needed safe haven. It has been seven years since Marjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters, Bahar and Layla, and she hopes that in Ballinacroagh, a land of “crazed sheep and dizzying roads,” they might finally find a home.

From the kitchen of an old pastry shop on Main Mall, the sisters set about creating a Persian oasis. Soon sensuous wafts of cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron float through the streets–an exotic aroma that announces the opening of the Babylon Café, and a shock to a town that generally subsists on boiled cabbage and Guinness served at the local tavern. And it is an affront to the senses of Ballinacroagh’s uncrowned king, Thomas McGuire. After trying to buy the old pastry shop for years and failing, Thomas is enraged to find it occupied–and by foreigners, no less.

But the mysterious, spicy fragrances work their magic on the townsfolk, and soon, business is booming. Marjan is thrilled with the demand for her red lentil soup, abgusht stew, and rosewater baklava–and with the transformation in her sisters. Young Layla finds first love, and even tense, haunted Bahar seems to be less nervous.

And in the stand-up-comedian-turned-priest Father Fergal Mahoney, the gentle, lonely widow Estelle Delmonico, and the headstrong hairdresser Fiona Athey, the sisters find a merry band of supporters against the close-minded opposition of less welcoming villagers stuck in their ways. But the idyll is soon broken when the past rushes back to threaten the Amnipours once more, and the lives they left behind in revolution-era Iran bleed into the present.

Infused with the textures and scents, trials and triumph,s of two distinct cultures, Pomegranate Soup is an infectious novel of magical realism. This richly detailed story, highlighted with delicious recipes, is a delectable journey into the heart of Persian cooking and Irish living.

About the Author

Born in Tehran, Marsha Mehran escaped the upheaval of the Iranian revolution with her family. She grew up in Argentina, where her parents operated a Middle Eastern café. She now lives in the west of Ireland with her husband, who is often called upon to taste her experimental cooking.

From the Hardcover edition.

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:

Catherine Malcolm, November 26, 2010 (view all comments by Catherine Malcolm)
The "flavour" of this well-written short book draws readers in. Delicious, whimsical but bittersweet.Persian recipes introduce each chapter as three sisters open the Babylon Cafe.Enticing aromas invite the quirky Irish residents of the small town of Ballinacroagh into its exotic warmth. Mysterious flavours parallel flashbacks to the sisters' narrow escape from the Iranian revolution.Recipes blend metaphor with emotional climate in this piece of magical realism.
Yes, there is a love story, a villain and fear of the unknown to make you and me want to read on.

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redrockbookworm, July 22, 2008 (view all comments by redrockbookworm)
As with all first novels, comparisons to previously published works are sure to be made. Some reviewers view this novel as an Iranian version of Chocolat ( which is a fair enough assessment) since both books celebrate the pleasure and magical qualities of food.

The year is 1980 and the three Aminpour sisters, have escaped Iran's revolution and settled in a small Irish village intent on opening a business and building a new life. With her savory recipes and personable characters, Mehran cooks up an intoxicating concoction that transports the reader back in time to an Ireland that has not yet been urbanized. She manages to capture the simple wisdom of free spirited, nurturing and tolerant women unknowingly drawn into conflict with an egotistical, overbearing, repressive man. It is a novel of opposites.....good versus evil, sour versus sweet, cold versus hot, acceptance versus rejection.

In addition, the author shares eleven treasured recipes and intertwines them into this tale of family, friends and food. You might say that this is the original "fusion cuisine".
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780812972481
Author:
Mehran, Marsha
Publisher:
Random House Trade
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Cookery
Subject:
Restaurants
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Subject:
Sisters
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
20060931
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
240
Dimensions:
8.08x5.30x.58 in. .41 lbs.

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