ARARAT

Elgin Groseclose's delicate and charming THE PERSIAN JOURNEY was, unfortunately, missed by many. This book, which bears comparison well to The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, is a more than likely dark horse. It has distinction of style and thought, it has color and drama. The period deals with the quarter century's waste, misery, and happiness experienced by a band of men who survived a Turkish massacre at Dilijan in 1895, and ends with the fierce rout of the Armenians at the close of the war. Two men dominate the story: Amos, a former American cowhand, then missionary to the Armenians in Turkey for thirteen years prior to the opening of the book, a man of compelling integrity. Secondly, there is Paul Markov, who finds shelter and objective under Lyle and who marries Lyle's adopted daughter, Sirani. The analysis of the ideals of two quite contradictory individuals is challenging, and the book has power and occasional great beauty.