Aria
The International Bestseller
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4.2 • 6 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
'A sweeping saga about the Iranian revolution as it explodes . . . a Doctor Zhivago of Iran' Margaret Atwood
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1950s Tehran. In an alleyway an abandoned baby cries into the night, attracting the attention of the young man who will save her.
And so begins the story of Aria, an orphan girl who comes of age on the volatile streets. As Aria grows she is torn between the three women fated to mother her: the harsh wife of the man who rescued her; a wealthy widow, who offers her refuge but cannot offer her love; and the mysterious Mehri, whose secrets will shatter everything Aria thought she knew about herself. And then, just as the political turmoil in the country deepens, Aria falls in love with a boy caught on the wrong side of the revolution . . .
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'Sweeping, cinematic and oh-so-gripping' Sunday Telegraph
'Leaves you simultaneously heartbroken and full of hope' Sunday Times
'Warm-hearted, compelling, hugely enjoyable' Times
'Spellbinding' Mail on Sunday
'Explores the darkness and hope of a city on the brink of revolution . . . Epic. An impressive debut, not easily forgotten' Observer
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hozar's towering bildungsroman debut, already an international bestseller, spans three decades, capturing the maturation of the novel's protagonist, Aria, amid the Iranian Revolution. Abandoned by her mother in Tehran as a baby in 1953, Aria spends her early years raised by a military driver, Behrouz, and his abusive wife, Zahra, who often locks the girl outside and denies her food. After Aria contracts trachoma at age six, Behrouz arranges to send her to live with Zahra's former employer, the wealthy Fereshteh, who takes in the girl as her own daughter, enrolls her in school, and forces her to visit the home of the less-fortunate Shirazi family to teach the household's children to read. Years pass, and Aria, along with childhood friends Hamlet and Mitra, completes high school and enrolls in university, where she crosses paths with disciples of Ayatollah Khomeini, who they claim will create a better Iran. As Tehran grows more violent, Aria realizes Hamlet is in love with her, and she must navigate his affections while they both become entangled in the growing uprising against the Shah. Hozar expertly weaves people in and out of Aria's life and crafts a living, breathing environment for her heroine to inhabit, and brings things to a charged climax. This will be hard for readers to shake.
