Children of the Jacaranda Tree
By Sahar Delijani
This book is a new release for June 18th, 2013. It is from Atria books. I obtained a free e-copy for review from NetGalley. I was excited to read this book. I loved the title and the cover is beautiful! This book is based on real, little known events in Iran. Delijani was actually born while her mother was in Evin prison. Sadly, I didn’t feel a connection with the story though.
The story is about activists in Iran and their incarceration in Evin prison in Tehran. The setting is 1983 to 2011. In 1988 thousands of people who were against the Islamic republic were executed. The story is told from the view points of the family members and the prisoner themselves. It shows how the whole family suffers from the loss of their loved one. It is more like a compilation of short stories, than a novel. I thought that it didn’t flow. It seemed disjointed to me. The book contains many characters and I didn’t feel that I could relate to them. They seemed superficial to me. I did not feel an emotional involvement with them.
Evin House of Detention
The copy that I read contained many words that should have been capitalized. Names of people were not capitalized. The first words of many sentences were not capitalized. My copy was a galley copy and maybe it was not corrected yet? I found it rather distracting.
I noticed that others have reviewed this book and have given it high ratings. I am sorry to say that I don’t feel the same about it. I give the book 2.5 stars out of 5. I think that with a few core characters and either one or two narrating the book would have made more sense and had a stronger impact. I don’t think this will make the best seller list. Will I have to eat my words on this one? We will just have to wait and see.
Have you read this book? I would be interested to hear what you think about it!!! Don’t be shy leave a comment!!
Sahar Delijani
http://www.sahardelijani.com/en/children-of-the-jacaranda-tree/
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- The Jacarandas (thevinton.com)
- ‘Children’ Of Iran’s Activists Inherit Love, Loss And Longing (wnyc.org)
patty'spaperbacks 
Galleys generally go through another edit before the final copy comes out so I’m more forgiving of errors in them. I’m anxious to read this book even though you didn’t love it.