The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar

LONGLISTED for the 2021 PEN TRANSLATION PRIZE
LONGLISTED for the 2020 NATIONAL BOK AWARD for Translated Literature
FINALIST for the 2020 INTERNATIONAL BOKER PRIZE

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. 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.

Told from the wise yet innocent gaze of a young girl, 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.

Azar, Shokoofeh: - Shokoofeh Azar was born in Iran in 1972, just 7 years before the Islamic revolution. Despite spending most of her childhood and early career in a relatively hostile environment for independent writing, Shokoofeh's early interest in writing and art was sparked by her father who was an Iranian intellectual, author, poet and artist. She studied literature at high school and university, later working as a journalist for an independent newspaper for 14 years. As well as having numerous short stories, reports, interviews and articles published in the Iranian media, her other publications include two collections of short stories: one children's book; and a Companion in Writing and Editing Essays in the Persian Literary Encyclopedia, which won the prize for The Best Book in Iran in 1997. In 2004, Shokoofeh became the first Iranian woman to backpack and hitchhike along the Silk Road: from Iran to Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan and India. Reports and photos of this 3-month journey were published in an Iranian newspaper, to great acclaim. In 2011, with independent reporting increasingly coming under threat, Shokoofeh was forced to leave Iran with her family and was accepted as a political refugee by Australia. She continues her writing and is also gaining a reputation as an artist with a number of successful exhibitions in Perth, where she lives. The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree is Azar's first novel to be translated into English, and has been shortlisted for numerous literary prizes, including the 2018 Stella Prize and the 2020 International Booker.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781609455651
ISBN 10	1609455657
Title	The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
Author	Shokoofeh Azar
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Europa Editions
Year published	2020-01-07
Number of pages	272
Prizes	Short-listed for National Book Awards (Translation) 2020, Short-listed for Man Booker International Prize 2020
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.