Aria

Praise

*** FINALIST FOR THE ETHEL WILSON FICTION PRIZE ***

“A sweeping saga about the Iranian revolution as it explodes. . . . A Doctor Zhivago of Iran.” 
—Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale
 
“A feminist odyssey. . . . A poised and dramatic historical novel with contemporary relevance.” 
—John Irving, author of The World According to Garp

“A beautiful book set against the pains and passions of the Iranian Revolution . . . It is a book about a particular time and place yet also, and perhaps more importantly, about the common hopes and intimate longings of lives so forcibly invaded by national events.”
—Hisham Matar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return
 
“Cinematic.” 
—The Vancouver Sun
 
“Nazanine Hozar’s immaculate first novel follows a group of Iranians in the lead-up to the 1979 revolution and marks the arrival of a major new voice.”
—The Observer (London)
 
“A page-turner. . . . Through accessible language, [Hozar] vividly captures the feel of alleyways, courtyards, markets and overlapping experiences and faiths. . . . Hozar spent a decade researching and writing Aria, and it shows.”
—Now Toronto
 
“Hugely enjoyable.”
—The Guardian (London)

“The beauty of multiplicity is central to Nazanine Hozar’s debut novel, Aria, which tracks the events leading up to, and human impulses behind, the Iranian revolution. . . . An alluring and enlightening read.” 
—The Irish Times
 
“[An] operatic debut novel. . . . Lacing cultural, political, and religious conflicts into the dramatic and tumultuous lives of her entangled characters, Hozar reveals the complexities of Iran’s glories and tragedies.” 
—Booklist

“An impressive fiction debut . . . vibrant, unsettling. . . . An engrossing tale that reveals a nation’s fraught history.” 
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)