At the heart of this sweeping saga of twentieth-century Iran is the unforgettable story of Kimiâ Sadr-punk-rock aficionado, storyteller extraordinaire, a modern Scheherazade divided between family traditions and her "disorientalization."

Kimiâ fled Iran at the age of ten in the company of her mother and sisters to join her father in France. Now twenty-five, she's inundated by her own memories and the stories of her ancestors. 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.

At once a sweeping saga of twentieth-century Iran and an intimate story of a young woman's determination to create a future on her own terms.