This is a heart-breaking but hopeful story of Christian conversion, fatwas, escape, divorce, a refugee camp, abuse, bullying, and isolation. Though fictionalized, it is based heavily on the author's own experiences as an immigrant to Oklahoma as a young child.
Daniel's mother converts to Christianity while visiting family in England. Upon her return to Iran, she seeks out an underground church. Inevitably, she is discovered and must flee the country. Her husband stays behind, but she takes her young daughter and son, Daniel. They hide first in the U.A.E., then stay in a refugee camp in Italy. When they finally reach America, they settle in Oklahoma, where she marries another Iranian immigrant who abuses her. Daniel struggles to understand his memories of Iran, his father's abandonment, his step-father's abuse, and his feelings of isolation in the United States.
The book is written as if Daniel is telling his story, including those of his ancestors and parents, to his school teacher and fellow students. There is a parallel drawn between Scheherazade's 1001 tales to save her life night after night and Daniel's story to breach the gulf between him and his fellow students. Scheherazade wants the king to love her, and Daniel in his way wants his classmates to love him. I think he's also using the stories to understand who he is and why he is worth loving.
The Christian faith is integral to the story. Daniel's mother risks her riches, her security, her job, and her husband when she becomes a Christian, but once she knows Christianity is True, there is no returning to her old life. Her dedication to the faith and perseverance through all her suffering is a testament to Christianity that most of us will never be able to give, and yet it's a relatively small part of the book itself. Her faith causes all of their problems, ruins Daniel's life, and yet he does not regret it. He admits all their difficulties, and the pain and sorrow he feels as a direct result, but there is no blame or ridicule. His mother is a continual source of love and goodness for him. It is pleasant to find a recent book so respectful of a Christian faith widely promoted and awarded in the publishing and bookselling industry.
Interwoven throughout the story are references to the history and myths of Iran, as well as what few memories Daniel has of his early years there. His explanations of the differences in the cultures of his home country and his adopted one show how our cultural expectations can damage relationships before they even begin, and how beneficial it is to learn about other cultures.
Parts of the book are beautifully written, but the child narrator slides often into a more vernacular language so the book is quite accessible. There are many references to food, blood, and poop.
I have read many reviews praising the audiobook, read by the author. I would love to listen to it, so I could hear the Persian names and Parsi pronounced correctly, but I'm certain I would cry through much of it. I would not recommend listening to it while driving.
The child narrator suits a middle grade reading level for the book, but parts of it are so very sad, I am not sure I would share it with my own children at that age, unless they were refugees or immigrants, or perhaps if they were encountering refugees or immigrants more in their lives. I think it might work as a historical novel for Level 4 (eighth grade) when we are studying twentieth century history. I'm going to include it as a supplemental read for our high school geography course for the Middle East, Central Asia, and India (Level 5, tenth grade). At that age, the reading level will be easy, but the subject matter will still be difficult.
I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links. I borrowed this book from our public library.
