AN EMOTION OF GREAT DELIGHT

Shadi’s life is slowly falling apart: Her best friend, Zahra, doesn’t talk to her anymore, and her parents are dealing with grief and depression in the aftermath of her brother Mehdi’s sudden death.

It’s 2003, and all of this is compounded by the hatred Shadi receives every day at school for being Iranian American and a hijabi. The lack of support leaves Shadi struggling to keep afloat. She’s behind in her classes and exhausted because she often stays up at night listening to her mother’s agonizing despair over losing Mehdi. Her father, once a healthy, fit man, recently had a second heart attack, and Shadi’s sister, Shayda, has taken over running the house. Everyone is so mired in their own trauma and pain that Shadi, the youngest, often finds herself forgotten, both literally and figuratively. The expectation of keeping one’s home life private and of separating the political from the personal are themes throughout the book. Woven through this story of trauma and resilience is a soft romance between Shadi and Zahra’s brother, Ali. Mafi confronts issues of mental health, suicidality, racism, and self-love in ways that will leave readers reacting viscerally and powerfully. Reading this novel is like being dropped straight into the everyday lives of a Muslim family in post–9/11 America.

A simply real story, devoid of clichés, that will leave an indelible mark.