There is so much we don't know about Iran, especially in the period before the Islamic Revolution. It was religiously diverse, with Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and B'hai living together, not necessarily comfortably, but together.

Aria, a redheaded, green-eyed abandoned baby (light eyes are very bad luck) is rescued from wild dogs by a kindhearted driver, who takes her home to a wife who hates the child. That hatred will ultimately lead to Aria's rise in social class and her experience of Iran from poverty to wealth.

The story gets muddled toward the end, but this is a good, readable novel that will open your eyes to a culture and people we may know little about. It ends with the Islamic Revolution, but I would be interested to know how Aria, Hamlet, and their nameless baby survive their country's evolution.