I was relieved to see that other reviwers felt the same way. I like the concept and the background but found the execution lacking. Upon finishing this book, I found myself torn. In trying to understand Maryam, Sara goes to her in Iran and finally begins to see her mother in a different light. Maryam, feeling responsible, takes off to Iran unable to repress her past no longer. Sara chases after him and successfully holds him back but not before being kicked on the stomach. After hearing harsh words from Maryam, Saeed bolts from the table and heads for the bridge. Blah - It was too disjointed and fluffy to summon any feeling but boredom.Īs Sara is sitting down with Maryam, her mother and Saeed, her mother's nephew, she does not yet that this day will end in tragedy. And then she begs her daughter to come see her life there. So she flees to England and then, after living there for 30 years, turns her back on her husband and daughter and goes back to live like a peasant with her former would-be boyfriend. This woman has this pretty terrible life in Iran and she longs to escape and be more than what women could be in Iran. Plus the whole Iranian thing was just annoying - there was a bunch of longing for Iran but without any explanation. The writing is mediocre, the character's voice was hollow and you it's just plain hard to like a book about the complexity of a mother-daughter relationship when you just can't stand either the mother or the daughter! Ironically enough the only characters I could stomach with any semblance of respect were the husbands. This book, The Saffron Kitchen was unconnected and abstruse - without meaning to be. It was smart, well-written and academic - even if it did leave me feeling emotionally empty and discouraged about the Middle East. The last one I read, Reading Lolita in Tehran, did the same thing to me - although at least I felt like I was part of a graduate-level book club. They always leave me feeling frustrated and irritated. I don't know why I keep trying to read books about Iran.

The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther