Rosewater and Soda Bread

Hi again

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago...yep I'm posting out of order!

Title: Rosewater and Soda Bread

Author: Marsha Mehran

Plot: novel is about three Iranian sisters who've ended up in a small village in Ireland, they have opened up a cafe...selling their 'foreign' food: interwoven with their story is another story about a mystery girl who is found on a deserted beach near the village. And there is a romance involving the main character.

It's a nice story, but it lacked something for me. It felt to me as though the story finished in a hurry, there wasn't enough information about why the three sisters left Iran....certain incidents are scattered through the novel but I didn't feel as though it was resolved completely.

I did find the interactions between the sisters interesting, enough to help the character development. There is the usual clashes between the older, more conservative sister and the youngest sister, who has embraced a more modern outlook on life.

The locals, who are highly suspicious of the foreigners and their strange food, make for some amusing moments, their reactions are believable given the setting of the story, in a small Irish village.

I give this novel a 6, the blurb from the publishers promises more than this novel actually delivers....but that's the job of the publishers!

Don't be fooled by that and the lovely cover artwork!

Save your money; if you want to read it borrow it from the library or another person, but I wouldn't recommend that you buy it.

This is the author's second novel; I wonder if this her 2ND book was a rushed affair to capitalise on any success that her first novel gathered? For the record, I haven't read or investigated the first novel....that's just my cynical mind at work!

xx