Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith: A Novel - Softcover

Nahai, Gina B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1508493669 ISBN 13: 9781508493662

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015

Synopsis

The first voice we hear in Gina B. Nahai's second novel is that of Lili, the grown daughter of a miraculous mother. When Lili was 5 and living in the Jewish ghetto of Tehran, her mother, Roxanna, "had grown wings, one night when the darkness was the color of her dreams, and flown into the star-studded night of Iran that claimed her." Thirteen years would pass, Lili informs us, before she would find her mother again. This short introduction serves as a framing device for the story of Roxanna's life, a life begun as a "bad-luck" child. According to her sister, Miriam the Moon, she "had been a runaway before she ever became a wife or a mother, before she came into existence or was even conceived."

About this title

Review:

"The New York Times Book Review" A skilled and inventive writer, Nahai demonstrates that even the darkest magic cannot defeat the extraordinary powers of love.

"The Toronto Star"

Lyrical, beautiful....A languid, steamy read.

"The Boston Globe"

A testament to the power and beauty of Gina Nahai's writing and the world she so brilliantly illuminates.

"The New York Times Book Review"

A considerable talent. Nahai has achieved some wonderful effects, infusing everyday events with miraculous radiance.

"The New York Times Book Review"

A skilled and inventive writer, Nahai demonstrates that even the darkest magic cannot defeat the extraordinary powers of love.

"The Boston Globe"

Beautiful, exotic, and rich....We jump on the magic carpet, soar above the Avenue of Faith, satisfied to let this gifted storyteller weave her spell.

"Los Angeles Times"

Entrancing...A voice that never loses its poise, that balances cynicism with hope, warmth Willi satire, hte heavy ballast of life Willi the exhilaration of being borne aloft.

"The Dallas Morning News"

A nice addition to the canon of magic realism....Ms. Nahai's lyrical command of her words carries through consistently. The book's effectiveness deepens into a powerful and surprising final chapter.

"Portland Oregonian"

A sprawling tapestry of a novel....Clear testimony to her skill as a storyteller, Gina B. Nahai works in elegant contrasts, the spellbinding extremes of the best of the magical realist tradition, conjuring a story that glows as if lit by a subtle, internal fire.

"The Plain Dealer" (Cleveland)

A novel of stunning beauty and power....A supreme accomplishment. The magical realism so perfectly wrought by Garcia Marquez has rarely been equaled, perhaps only by Toni Morrison in "Song of Solomon" and here in Nahai's novel.

From the Back Cover:

When she is five years old, Lili, the narrator of this epic and magical tale, watches her mother, Roxanna the Angel, throw herself off the balcony of their house on the Avenue of Faith. Roxanna has left no farewell, no explanation. Her family's subsequent search for her reveals no body, no sign of a fall, no trace of an escape. The only witness to Roxanna's disappearance, Lili will spend the next thirteen years looking for her mother, wondering if she is alive, wondering why she left.

This is the remarkable tale that follows Roxanna, born as a "bad-luck child" in the Jewish ghetto of Tehran, through the opulent world of Iran's aristocracy, into the whorehouses of Turkey and at last, to Los Angeles -- the city of exiles -- where she and Lili are reunited. Gina B. Nahai tells the story of a courageous circle of women standing on the edge of the past, reshaping their lives in America, the land of chances and choices.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1508493669
• ISBN 13: 9781508493662
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 382