The Girl from the Garden
Parnaz Foroutan, 2015
HarperCollins
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062388391
Summary
An extraordinary new writer makes her literary debut with this suspenseful novel of desire, obsession, power and vulnerability, in which a crisis of inheritance leads to the downfall of a wealthy family of Persian Jews in early twentieth-century Iran.
For all his wealth and success, Asher Malacouti—the head of a prosperous Jewish family living in the Iranian town of Kermanshah—cannot have the one thing he desires above all: a male son.
His young wife Rakhel, trapped in an oppressive marriage at a time when a woman’s worth is measured by her fertility, is made desperate by her failure to conceive, and grows jealous and vindictive.
Her despair is compounded by her sister-in-law Khorsheed’s pregnancy and her husband’s growing desire for Kokab, his cousin’s wife. Frustrated by his wife’s inability to bear him an heir, Asher makes a fateful choice that will shatter the household and drive Rakhel to dark extremes to save herself and preserve her status within the family.
Witnessed through the memories of the family’s only surviving daughter, Mahboubeh, now an elderly woman living in Los Angeles, The Girl from the Garden unfolds the complex, tragic history of her family in a long-lost Iran of generations past.
Haunting, suspenseful and inspired by events in the author’s own family, it is an evocative and poignant exploration of sacrifice, betrayal, and the indelible legacy of the families that forge us. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Parnaz Foroutan was born in Iran and spent her early childhood there. She received PEN USA's Emerging Voices fellowship for this novel, which was inspired by her own family history. She has been named to the Hedgebrook fellowship and residency, and received funding from the Elizabeth George Foundation, among other institutions. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[Ultimately,] The Girl from the Garden is about how telling stories helps us to hold our past in our hands—and about how a flowering yard "teeming with life"’ in far-off Los Angeles can movingly become, for one wandering storyteller, a home.
Seattle Times
Foroutan’s characters grapple, often vainly, for control against larger forces—a God who doesn’t answer prayers, a state that doesn’t recognize their humanity, and people who cannot be made to bend to their needs, no matter how badly they love them.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Parnaz Foroutan’s scorching debut novel, The Girl From the Garden, takes us to Iran, where a couple’s inability to conceive pits a young wife against her tyrannical husband, who will stop at nothing to secure an heir.
W Magazine (online)
A riveting portrait of family strife in a troubled land—and the fallout when a woman’s fertility determines her worth.
People
A lush debut.... Foroutan is a modern-day Scheherazade, weaving her tale through the entire 20th century, from an aging woman in her L.A. garden to the brothers whose determination to spawn heirs tortured the harem she was raised in.
Willamette Week
(Starred review.) Foroutan's richly layered debut explores...a single household in a Jewish enclave in Iran.... The framework of flashbacks within flashbacks...exhilaratingly propels the plot, and Foroutan's sumptuous prose paints a vivid portrait of a rarely explored...setting.
Publishers Weekly
In this debut novel, Mahboubeh Malacouti, an elderly woman living in Los Angeles, recalls the stories surrounding her family in early 1900s Iran.... Though Foroutan is better at writing about the past than the present,...she clearly has a gift for storytelling. —Shirley Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA
Library Journal
(Starred review.) In this stunning first novel, Foroutan draws on her own family history to integrate the lore and traditions of old Iran. Suspenseful and haunting, this riveting story of jealousy, sacrifice, and betrayal and the intimately drawn characters within will not be easily forgotten (One of Booklist’s Top 10 First Novels of 2015).
Booklist
(Starred review.) [A]n elderly woman pieces together the tragedy of her ancestors' Iranian Jewish household, in which the actions of two brothers "who would sacrifice anything for one another" result in sorrow for three wives.... Deftly structured, this novel traces those complications to their core...while lending grace through the delicacy of its observation.... [The] poetic narration overlays the suffering with surprising beauty.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
These questions were written—and generously offered to LitLovers—by Dulce Campins and Anna Garcia of Houston, Texas. Many thanks to both of you!
1. Mahboubeh says that Paradise is a Farsi word that means "an enclosed space, a garden set aside from the surrounding wilderness." What is the relevance of this and of the title of the book in this story?
2. Mahboubeh’s garden in Los Angeles has the same plants that her family’s garden had in Kermanshah. How does the author use this similarity to develop the story? Can you make a connection with your own life?
3. What happened to Rakhel over the years? Was she always bitter? Do you think that her life circumstances were responsible for her behavior? Are any of her actions justified?
4. What does Kokab get from her relationship with Asher? At some point she seems to enjoy being with him. Then, why do you think she left him if that brought shame to her and her family?
5. Mahboubeh’s memories have been affected by the pass of time. Do you feel that your recollections of events that happened long ago have changed too? Why or why not?
6. Being the first born son is very important in the Malacouti’s culture, as it defines the distribution of power of the present generation and the lineage of the next generation. How is this fact presented in the story and how does it affect the destiny of the characters?
7. There are many cultures where for centuries the order of birth and the sex of a newborn have defined the life of each individual. How is that changing in present times? Do you think that some people or cultures don’t want it to change? Why or why not?
8. Why is Rakhel sobbing when Korsheed is grieving for Yousseff on the snow and has to be dragged inside by Zolehkah and Fatimeh? How do you think she’s feeling and why?
9. Why do you think that Mahboubeh is led to believe that "sorrow is a complication of womanhood"? What happened then to Ibrahim?
10. Mahboubeh is an immigrant living immerse in a totally different culture. Why do you think she left her country? How does her bi-culturalism affect the way she looks at her family’s history later on?
(Questions by Dulce Campins and Anna García. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution to Dulcce, Anna, and LitLovers. Thanks.)