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Powell's Q&A, Kids' Q&A | February 2, 2012

Emily Winfield Martin: IMG Kids' Q&A: Emily Winfield Martin

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Describe your new book. Oddfellow's Orphanage is a series of stories/vignettes that tell the tale of the newest arrival to a curious orphanage, a... Continue »
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1 Burnside Literature- A to Z

Jumping Over Fire

by Nahid Rachlin

Jumping Over Fire Cover

ISBN13: 9780872864528
ISBN10: 0872864529
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Fleeing a neocolonial oil town in southern Iran as Khomeini rises to power, the Ellahi family emigrates to the US, where Nora and her adopted brother Jahan struggle to end their incestuous attachment, get through college, and forge independent lives. Confronted by anti-Iranian hostility, Jahan is drawn to Islam, ultimately going back to join the Iranian army to fight Saddam Hussein, while Nora takes advantage of the greater opportunities and personal freedom for women here.

Review:

Rachlin illuminates the private and public consequences of the Islamic revolution in her latest novel of 20th-century Iranian life (Heart's Desire). Nora Ellahi, the daughter of an Iranian doctor and his American wife, lives a sheltered life among the economic elite of the oil city Masjid-e-Suleiman in the 1970s. While dissatisfaction with the ruling Shah and resentment of foreign influence spills over into street demonstrations, Nora grows increasingly attracted to her adopted brother, Jahan, a full Iranian, and their sexual affair blossoms during a summer at their country house in Meigoon. Nora and Jahan's illicit relationship plays out against the backdrop of a restrictive society, and the burgeoning revolution lends tension to each daily activity. The novel's less propulsive second half is set in America. When the revolution reaches Masjid-e-Suleiman, the Ellahi family leaves Iran and resettles in Long Island, where Nora revels in the more liberal society but the rest of the family struggles to adapt. Ultimately, Jahan must choose between the freedom of America and the patriotic call of serving his birth country in the Iran-Iraq war. Though Rachlin sometimes sacrifices art for clarity with her straightforward writing, she delivers a complex portrait of a divided Iran. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Synopsis:

Iranian family embroiled in Islamic revolution, the hostage crisis, incest, and exile in America.
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About the Author

Nahid Rachlin is the Iranian-American author of Veils, Foreigner, Married to a Stranger, and The Heart's Desire. She teaches at New School University and the Unterberg Poetry Center in New York.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
pbmehrimd, May 5, 2006 (view all comments by pbmehrimd)
masterpiece !!!!!!!!!!, May 4, 2006
Reviewer: Parviz Mehri "pbmehrimdbookologist" (Danbury, CT) - See all my reviews

Set against the backdrop of war , betrayal of a nation , death, mutilation , displacement and destruction, the tender awakening of desire in a pubescent girl !!! The story is so suspenseful that I was tempted many a time to read the last pages to find out the outcome. Nahid is the most eminent transcultural novelist in the US and with this novel she displays the utmost mastery of the art. She shows the universality of human experience with words as precise as a surgical instrument. BRAVA NAHID !!! Parviz B. Mehri, MD, FACS. FICS

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780872864528
Author:
Rachlin, Nahid
Publisher:
City Lights Books
Subject:
General
Subject:
Brothers and sisters
Subject:
Refugees
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Ethnic relations
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2006
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Publication Date:
20060431
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
8 x 5.3 x 0.5 in 10 oz
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Related Aisles

Jumping Over Fire Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$5.95 In Stock
Product details 224 pages City Lights Books - English 9780872864528 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , Rachlin illuminates the private and public consequences of the Islamic revolution in her latest novel of 20th-century Iranian life (Heart's Desire). Nora Ellahi, the daughter of an Iranian doctor and his American wife, lives a sheltered life among the economic elite of the oil city Masjid-e-Suleiman in the 1970s. While dissatisfaction with the ruling Shah and resentment of foreign influence spills over into street demonstrations, Nora grows increasingly attracted to her adopted brother, Jahan, a full Iranian, and their sexual affair blossoms during a summer at their country house in Meigoon. Nora and Jahan's illicit relationship plays out against the backdrop of a restrictive society, and the burgeoning revolution lends tension to each daily activity. The novel's less propulsive second half is set in America. When the revolution reaches Masjid-e-Suleiman, the Ellahi family leaves Iran and resettles in Long Island, where Nora revels in the more liberal society but the rest of the family struggles to adapt. Ultimately, Jahan must choose between the freedom of America and the patriotic call of serving his birth country in the Iran-Iraq war. Though Rachlin sometimes sacrifices art for clarity with her straightforward writing, she delivers a complex portrait of a divided Iran. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
"Synopsis" by ,
Iranian family embroiled in Islamic revolution, the hostage crisis, incest, and exile in America.
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