This novel explores the lives of two young Jewish girls in a Persian village at the turn of the century. 11-year-old Nazie is waiting to marry her cousin Moussa, but must wait until she starts menstruating. 15-year-old Flora is married, pregnant and seemingly abandoned.
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Review:
"The energy of the writing is remarkable . . . It is as if we have entered the wildest of Chagall's paintings." (Literary Review)
"A remarkable (and well-translated) extravaganza." (Sunday Telegraph)
"Bursting with colourful stories and superstitions, the narrative seems to embrace whole lives rather than just two days. . . Rabinyan has a fresh and charming voice." (Independent on Sunday)
"Lush, lyrical and disturbing. . . Rabinyan's marvellously digressive style and rich prose give the story the feel of a night-long wedding feast." (New York Times)
From the Back Cover:
Set at the turn of the century in the fictional Persian village of Omerijan, Persian Brides tells the magical story of two young girls - Flora and Nazie Ratoryan - and their many neighbors in the almond tree alley in Omerijan where they live. Fifteen-years-old, pregnant, and recently abandoned by her cloth-merchant husband, Flora longs desperately for the return of her unborn baby's father. Nazie consoles and pities her, and though she is still only a child of eleven, she yearns - just as desperately - for her own future marriage. Although the narrative spans only two days, it branches out and back, encompassing the lives and histories of many of Omerijan's inhabitants. A blend of fantasy and reality, the narrative forcefully conveys shocking cruelties endured by many of the characters while at the same time weaving a modern-day Arabic legend where snakes offer jewels in exchange for milk and death is thwarted by appeasing the village demons.
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- PublisherCanongate Books
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0862418518
- ISBN 13 9780862418519
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages208
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Rating