Cemetery of Dreams - S. Mostofi

Synopsis:
A fast-paced political thriller set against a finely detailed historical and cultural backdrop, Cemetery of Dreams shows lower-class Iranians who used the revolution for revenge against the upper classes, patriots who joined the revolution to end the Shah's tyranny, and the opportunists who were willing to turn any political upheaval to their advantage.
In the wake of the Iranian revolution and the hostage crisis, Arman seeks to avoid his country's political turmoil and focus on his own problems. His father, a former general under the Shah, is in the hospital. His American fiancée, Julia, the daughter of one of the hostages, is in hiding in his home and growing increasingly distraught as the crisis stretches on.
But when a former agent in the Shah's secret police blackmails him into joining a CIA-supported coup against the new regime, Arman is drawn into the revolutionary vortex.
With Iranian domestic turmoil once again making headlines, Cemetery of Dreams gives the reader an alternative perspective on the rescue mission, and an insider's view into the social currents that continue to fracture one of the most influential players in the Middle East and, subsequently, the world.


Author Bio:
Sasha Mostofi was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. After the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty, the Islamic regime prohibited her father, an executive at one of the major banks in Tehran, from traveling for fifteen years and stripped her family of their wealth and position. Meanwhile, many of her relatives escaped or were executed for trivial reasons.
The first in her family to immigrate to the United States, Mostofi came to America in the 1990s at the age of 16. She wrote the first draft of Cemetery of Dreams when she was fourteen years old in Iran. In 2004 she returned to it, eventually rewriting and revising it.
Sasha now lives in California with her husband. Cemetery of Dreams is her first novel.


©2010


My Opinion:
Interesting.
That's my lasting impression.
I love reading stories about other countries, and this one was no exception. I thought the author did a great job conveying the story to all readers, not just readers who enjoy the subject at hand.
A sensitive topic, war, but one that is real in our society, and one that shouldn't be ignored. Thankfully we live in a country that doesn't live under these rules, but for the countries that are harsher in realities cannot be ignored.
I also liked the touch of romance in this book. It was the sweet spot of it all.
A definite must read for any adult.

4/5


~I received a copy from Newman Communications. I was not compensated for my opinion.~