From the pen of one of Iran's rising literary stars, The Enlightenment of
the Greengage Tree is a family story about the unbreakable connection
between the living and the dead. Set in Iran in the decade following the
1979 Islamic Revolution, this moving, richly imagined novel is narrated by
the ghost of Bahar, a thirteen-year-old girl, whose family is compelled to
flee their home in Tehran for a new life in a small village, hoping in this
way to preserve both their intellectual freedom and their lives. But they
soon find themselves caught up in the post-revolutionary chaos that sweeps
across their ancient land and its people. Bahar's mother, after a tragic
loss, will embark on a long, eventful journey in search of meaning in a
world swept up in the post-revolutionary madness. The Enlightenment of the
Greengage Tree speaks of the power of imagination when confronted with
cruelty, and of our human need to make sense of trauma through the ritual
of storytelling itself. Through her unforgettable characters, Azar weaves a
timely and timeless story that juxtaposes the beauty of an ancient, vibrant
culture with the brutality of an oppressive political regime.