Awards

• Commended for Benjamin Franklin Award (Bill Fisher Award - Fiction) 2024

Overview

Finalist of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for fiction, HALF A CUP OF SAND AND SKY is a moving portrait of one woman's search for love and belonging cast against a nuanced backdrop of political turmoil. It is 1977, and the anti-shah protests at Tehran University are intensifying, but Amineh is not like her peers who want a say in the future of their country. Her thoughts are on the beautiful literature of another era and her past of rose harvests and Sufi poetry evenings under the desert sky. A chance encounter with Farzad, an opposition leader and disarmament activist, will thrust her into a life she didn't ask for and didn't want. Nobody wanted the tyranny that is quickly turning worse than the tyranny it replaced. But maybe Amineh has been looking at her life all wrong-Maybe the thing she is seeking is not in the past at all.

Full Product Details

9789198861600

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Reviews

"""Brilliantly layered and beautifully written, this PEN America finalist is both a searing character portrait and an incisive examination of Iranian history, which is at once moving and illuminating."" -The Independent Review of Books, Reviewer's Pick ""This exceptional story will ignite your imagination and touch your heart."" -Midwest Book Review ""A wise, beautiful novel featuring a woman facing the eternal challenge: how to create an authentic self. . . . I adored this book."" -JOAN STEINAU LESTER, award-winning author of Loving Before Loving: A Marriage in Black and White ""Bjursten immerses readers in a life, a nation, and an era."" -Publishers Weekly, Editor's Pick ""Richly layered. . .a real gem."" -MAHBOD SERAJI, author of Rooftops of Tehran "". . .Enticing. . .Thought-provoking. . ."" -Kirkus Reviews ""Bjursten's novel beautifully balances global risks with the stakes of a single woman's heart, imbuing both with compelling urgency."" -IndieReader ""[This novel] will captivate folks of all genres and ages with its craft, vitality, and wisdom."" -Independent Book Review, Starred Review"

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