An excellent but heavy book to start the year off with. This novel painted a vivid image of the time and characters. I felt like my lack of knowledge or experience with Iranian history was a disadvantage because I feel like I missed some of the nunanced pointed Nazanine made, and yet I felt this was an excellent starting point to really understand the complexities of history and how when you live within them your life is driven and yet outside of those complexities. Placed in this context, I think the author truly explored ideas of motherhood that are transferable to any period so at times the story felt like it was on a tangent. Regardless, a worthwhile read.