A sweeping, compelling story which brings to life the Iranian Revolution, from an author who experienced it first-hand

Welcome to the house of the mosque . . .

Iran, 1950. Spring has arrived, and as the women prepare the festivities, Sadiq waits for a suitor to knock on the door. Her uncle Nosrat returns from Tehran with a glamorous woman, while on the rooftop, Shahbal longs only for a television to watch the first moon landing. But not even the beloved grandmothers can foresee what will happen in the days and months to come. The household is set to experience great love and loss as it opens the doors to faith and politics.

In this uplifting bestseller, Kader Abdolah charts the triumphs and tragedies of a family on the brink of revolution.

"Beautifully written and fiercely readable" - * Daily Mail *

"Abdolah's is a powerful voice" - * The Times Saturday Review *

"Enchanting...Abdolah's juxtapositions - the spiritual and the earthly, myth and reality - give the story a powerful irony." - * Independent *

"[Kader Abdolah] tells this story straight from the heart. And it's on the heart too that it leaves an indelible mark." - * The Scotsman Magazine *

"Expertly mingles fiction and personal history to create a thought-provoking novel to please fans of Khaled Hosseini, Mohsin Hamid and Azar Nafisi." - * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *

"fabulously powerful and heart warming" - * Good Book Guide *

"an impressive book [telling] a tragic story illustrating the power of the human spirit to conquer." - * The Bookseller *

"Sensual, beguiling and elegantly translated." - * Herald Arts *

"Fabulously powerful and heart-warming." - * Good Book Guide *

"Captivating and distinctive . . . a measured, beguiling and potent example of literary resistance" - * Times Literary Supplement *