Gifted journalist Gelareh Asayesh writes indelibly of her struggle to balance an Iranian childhood with her adult life in America. "A brave and beautifully written memoir that should be read by all who seek to understand Iran, America, or the divided life of the exile. Rarely have the enduring questions of time, place, faith, and identity been explored with such an array of amazing images. -Tom Drury, author of The Black Brook

This lyrical memoir evinces the author's passion for constructing an American life with the spiritual fervor and deeply aesthetic rituals that were part of her childhood in Iran until her family immigrated to North Carolina. Asayesh writes too of her struggle to arrive at an acceptable sexuality in the face of parental panic, and tells of her frustration, during later trips to post-Shah Iran, with "the sisters", the Ayatollah's ubiquitous enforcers of female modesty.

'Gelareh Asayesh grew up in Tehran. Her family moved to the United States in 1977, shortly before the Islamic Revolution transformed Iran. In 1990, after fourteen years of absence, she returned to Iran for a visit. Since then, she has returned almost every year, most recently for three months this past spring and summer. Her book, Saffron Sky: A Life Between Iran and America, is out from Beacon Press this month. It chronicles both her trips and the emotional landscape of the immigrant, describing Asayesh\'s struggle to bridge two irreconcilable worlds. Asayesh is a longtime journalist who has worked as a staff writer for The Miami Herald and The Baltimore Sun. She has also written for The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The St. Petersburg Times and other publications. She lives with her American husband and two young children in St. Petersburg, Fl. In the next few months she will be traveling to promote \"Saffron Sky\". For information on her speaking schedule, to order the book, or to read reviews and excerpts, visit Saffronsky.com on the web.'