Hooray! You have added the first book to your bookshelf. Check it out now!
[−]
  • Search Digit-count Valid ISBN Invalid ISBN Valid Barcode Invalid Barcode
Blog this item

Pomegranate Soup

A Novel

By Marsha Mehran

(10)

| Paperback | 9780812972481

Like Pomegranate Soup?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Sign up for free

Book Description

Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick, in damp and lovely County Mayo, sits the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sisters, Ireland looks like a much-needed safe haven. It has been seven years since Marjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters, Bahar and LaylaContinue

Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick, in damp and lovely County Mayo, sits the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sisters, Ireland looks like a much-needed safe haven. It has been seven years since Marjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters, Bahar and Layla, and she hopes that in Ballinacroagh, a land of “crazed sheep and dizzying roads,” they might finally find a home.

From the kitchen of an old pastry shop on Main Mall, the sisters set about creating a Persian oasis. Soon sensuous wafts of cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron float through the streets–an exotic aroma that announces the opening of the Babylon Café, and a shock to a town that generally subsists on boiled cabbage and Guinness served at the local tavern. And it is an affront to the senses of Ballinacroagh’s uncrowned king, Thomas McGuire. After trying to buy the old pastry shop for years and failing, Thomas is enraged to find it occupied–and by foreigners, no less.

But the mysterious, spicy fragrances work their magic on the townsfolk, and soon, business is booming. Marjan is thrilled with the demand for her red lentil soup, abgusht stew, and rosewater baklava–and with the transformation in her sisters. Young Layla finds first love, and even tense, haunted Bahar seems to be less nervous.

And in the stand-up-comedian-turned-priest Father Fergal Mahoney, the gentle, lonely widow Estelle Delmonico, and the headstrong hairdresser Fiona Athey, the sisters find a merry band of supporters against the close-minded opposition of less welcoming villagers stuck in their ways. But the idyll is soon broken when the past rushes back to threaten the Amnipours once more, and the lives they left behind in revolution-era Iran bleed into the present.

Infused with the textures and scents, trials and triumph,s of two distinct cultures, Pomegranate Soup is an infectious novel of magical realism. This richly detailed story, highlighted with delicious recipes, is a delectable journey into the heart of Persian cooking and Irish living.


From the Hardcover edition.

Critics

  • Pomegranate Soup By Marsha Mehran

    In an increasingly interconnected world, the mixing of cultures should no longer come as a surprise. So it is refreshing when an author comes along who can showcase an intriguing new combination. Writer Marsha Mehran escaped the religious revolution ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Sun, 12 Sep 2010

  • Pomegranate Soup

    POMEGRANATE SOUP, a wonderful debut novel by MARSHA MEHRAN, is about three Iranian sisters Marjan, Bahar and Layla and takes the reader on a journey through the lush damp countryside of Ireland's county Mayo, where the sisters struggle to make a new ... (read full critics)

    asianreviewofbooks published on Thu, 2 Sep 2010

1 Review

Login or Sign Up to write a review

  • The Aminpour sisters escape Iran while the revolution is on, to reach Ireland. There, they open the Babylon cafè, an exotic place where things you'd never know could happen, actually happen.
    The little city is transformed, people leave the McGuire pub to reach the Aminpour cafè. People change ... (continue)

    The Aminpour sisters escape Iran while the revolution is on, to reach Ireland. There, they open the Babylon cafè, an exotic place where things you'd never know could happen, actually happen.
    The little city is transformed, people leave the McGuire pub to reach the Aminpour cafè. People change inside, and the sisters can star a new life..

    Between one chapter and the other, Iranian recipes are showed. Lovely!

    Is this helpful?

    Lizzyblack said on Jun 7, 2007 | Add your feedback

Book Details

Improve data of this book

Groups with this in collection

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780812972481 Paperback $15.00 $10.80 bn.com
$15.00 $10.19 The Book Depository
Other editions →
Added to Shelf Added to Wish List

Inline Translation Mode

Left click to navigate, right click to translate.

inline translation guide

or close

Inline translation is not ready for this page yet.

Inline translation mode.

Share this page with your friends.

The viewport has not loaded.