Love and War in the Jewish Quarter

"ln this richly evocative novel, Dora Levy Mossanen conjures Tehran in the 1940s, where age-old customs and prejudices are being challenged by modern ideasabout love and sex, politics and science, and the place of Jews in Iranian society. The story of Soleiman Yaran, a Jewish dentist whose life changes course when he is summoned to treat a royal patient, is as romantic, suspenseful and compelling as the history of the city and people that surround it."-Adam Kirsch, author of The People and the Books:18 Classics of Jewish Literature. "A lyrical tale filled with character, history, and drama--but most of all, with love miraculously born of shattered worlds and courageous hearts."-Rabbi David Wolpe, author of Why be Jewish and David: The Divided Heart. Against the tumultuous background of World War II, Dr. Yaran will find himself caught in the thrall of the anti-Semitic Governor General, the most powerful man in the country. Dr. Yaran falls in love with the Governor General's defiant wife, Velvet, upending not only the life of the doctor's beloved daughter, but the entire community. In his quest to save everything and everyone he loves, Dr. Yaran will navigate the intersections of magic, science, lust, and treachery. His sole ally is the Governor General's servant, an exotic eunuch, who will do anything to aid his mistress in her dangerous quest to attain forbidden love.