Disoriental
Négar Djavadi author Tina Kover translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Europa Editions (UK) Ltd
Published:5th Sep '19
Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date
Beguiling"—The Guardian
"Remarkable"—The New York Times
"Gorgeous"—The Financial Times
WINNER
2019 Albertine Prize
2019 Lambda Literary Award
Prix du Style
Prix de la Porte Dorée
2016 Lire Best Debut Novel
Le Prix du Roman News
Kimiâ Sadr fled Iran at the age of ten in the company of her mother and sisters to join her father in France. Now twenty-five, with a new life and the prospect of a child, Kimiâ is inundated by her own memories and the stories of her ancestors, which reach her in unstoppable, uncontainable waves. In the waiting room of a Parisian fertility clinic, generations of flamboyant Sadrs return to her, including her formidable great-grandfather Montazemolmolk, with his harem of fifty-two wives, and her parents, Darius and Sara, stalwart opponents of each regime that befalls them.
In this high-spirited, kaleidoscopic story, key moments of Iranian history, politics, and culture punctuate stories of family drama and triumph. Yet it is Kimiâ herself—punk-rock aficionado, storyteller extraordinaire, a Scheherazade of our time, and above all a modern woman divided between family traditions and her own “disorientalization”—who forms the heart of this spellbinding novel.
“The novel pulsates with life but does not shirk from violence. The gorgeous prose…takes the edge off the relentless turmoil described throughout.” - * The Financial Times *
"Spiced with foreshadowings, packed with big issues and tempered by strategic reticence, this novel compels the reader’s attention as consistently as it entertains." * The Guardian *
"In her remarkable novel, Negar Djavadi beautifully captures the “disorientation” of exile and the attempt to reconstruct a self through family stories." * The New York Times *
"A compelling story that combines the personal and political." * Tony's Reading List *
“A momentous saga of modern Iran.” * Publishers Weekly *
"The captivating story of a girl who grows into a woman dealing with the burdens of history on her country, her family, and herself, Disoriental offers so much to both non-Iranian and Iranian readers." * World Literature Today *
"Négar Djavadi’s illuminating, richly entertaining debut novel Disoriental combines a sweeping family history in 20th-century Iran with an intimate study of identity and motherhood in contemporary Paris." * Bookanista *
"Djavadi is an admirable and artful storyteller." * The Brooklyn Rail *
ISBN: 9781787702042
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
352 pages