To Keep the Sun Alive

Reviews

“A mesmerizing novel.”

“Richly imagined.”

“An Iranian family saga that reads like a movie.”

“Ghaffari’s saga is so evocative you’ll nearly be able to smell the orange trees in the family’s orchard.”

“Poetic prose relays deep and intimate emotion in a single line; its richness makes characters’ joys and tragedies palpably felt by readers, too. This is a beautifully written story.”

“Rabeah Ghaffari narrates her poetic historical novel…[and] gives its multigenerational characters sombre, steady voices…Ghaffari presents both male and female characters well; she makes the rise of religious extremists credible in deep-voiced lines that contrast with the measured tones used to evoke the judge. This is a lush listening experience that fans of literary fiction will sink into as Ghaffari humanizes history.”

“Ghaffari delves into her characters with sensitivity for their positions and differences. Readers will savor the emotional depth of one family’s experience of the terrifying effects of religious fundamentalism and political instability.”

“In her lush and atmospheric debut, author Ghaffari sketches a complex portrait of a country on the brink of revolution and explores the poignant ways political unrest can bind or tear families apart…Evocative and deeply felt.”

“Ghaffari has built a world so lush, so precise that you will find yourself rewriting history if only to imagine it could still exist.”

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