The Luminous Heart Of Jonah S. by Gina B Nahai

The Luminous Heart Of Jonah S. by Gina B Nahai

Part murder mystery and part family saga, this dramatic and often hilarious novel explores the history of Los Angeles's Iranian Jewish community.

--Longlisted for the 2016 International Dublin Literary Award

--Finalist for the Jewish Book Council's 2014 JJ Greenberg Memorial Award

--One of The Margins's 100 Essential Books by Iranian Writers

"Lyrical, shrewd, and daring novelist Nahai . . . writes with acute emotional and nearly anthropological perception, laser-wit, and deep compassion. . . . With touches of magic realism, extraordinary characters, and a spiraling, multigenerational plot involving fraud, a murder mystery, epic suffering, heroic generosity, women's struggle for freedom, and the clash between East and West, Nahai's mythic, tragic, often beautiful immigrant family saga illuminates timeless questions of prejudice, trauma, inheritance, loyalty, and love." --Booklist, Starred Review

"A riveting tale. . . . Readers will be well rewarded." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

From Tehran to Los Angeles, The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. is a sweeping saga that tells the story of the Soleymans, an Iranian Jewish family tormented for decades by Raphael's Son, a crafty and unscrupulous financier who has futilely claimed to be an heir to the family's fortune. Forty years later in contemporary Los Angeles, Raphael's Son has nearly achieved his goal--until he suddenly disappears, presumed by many to have been murdered. The possible suspects are legion: his long-suffering wife; numerous members of the Soleyman clan exacting revenge; the scores of investors he bankrupted in a Ponzi scheme; or perhaps even his disgruntled bookkeeper and longtime confidant.

Award-winning novelist Gina B. Nahai pulls back the curtain on a close-knit community that survived centuries of persecution in Iran before settling and thriving in the United States, but now finds itself divided to the core by one of its own members. By turns hilarious and affecting, The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. examines the eternal bonds of family and community, and the lasting scars of exile.

Gina B. Nahai is a best-selling author, columnist, and full-time lecturer at USC's Master of Professional Writing Program. Her novels have been translated into eighteen languages, and have been selected as Best Books of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. She has also been a finalist for the Orange Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Harold U. Ribalow Prize, and has won the Los Angeles Arts Council Award, the Persian Heritage Foundation's Award, the Simon Rockower Award, and the Phi Kappa Phi Award. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles magazine, Publishers Weekly, and the Huffington Post, among others. She writes a monthly column for the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, and is a three-time finalist for an LA Press Club Award. Nahai holds a BA and a Masters degree in International Relations from UCLA, and a Master of Professional Writing from USC. She, s a former consultant for the Rand Corporation, and a frequent lecturer on the politics of pre- and postrevolutionary Iran. The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. is her latest novel.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781617753206
ISBN 10	1617753203
Title	The Luminous Heart Of Jonah S.
Author	Gina B Nahai
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Akashic Books,U.S.
Year published	2014-11-20
Number of pages	416
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.