Customer Reviews

Rosewater and Soda Bread: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After a very promising start, the book fizzled a bit because the author didn't resolve many of the storylines. As the title says, this is a novel about three sisters (Marjan, Bahar, and Layla), two countries (Ireland and Iran), and the language of food.

The author pulled off the language of food (including restorative and medicinal properties), and there are 8 tasty sounding recipes from Ireland or Iran at the end of the book. The portraits of Ireland and Iran while slightly incomplete were well painted. The three sisters are realistically presented, each with their own backstory, personality, and dreams.

The problem is that many of the secondary characters drawn into the story simply disappear. I'm not sure if Ms. Mehran didn't know how to end it, became bored a little over half way through, was told by her publisher that she was out of pages, or intends to write a sequel, but for whatever reason it all kind of just ended. You know how you're never supposed to resolve a problem by having the character wake up? Well, the resolution to this story's problem stopped just one step shy of this. The girl left (I don't want to give anything away so I'll leave this rather vague statement at that), and all of the people inconvenienced, jeopordized, or in trouble with the law are left hanging out there with the reader left to guess whether they're still in trouble or everything was miraculously resolved.

Is it worth reading? Well, I enjoyed it up until the end and it whet my appetite for more facts about Ireland, Iran, Ireland's merrow or Iran's Baraka, and especially Iranian food, but the reader should beware getting caught up in the side stories for they will probably be left with more questions than answers.

Mehran has again given us a delicious story about the clash of cultures that would seem to never blend. Somehow, Mehran's Aminpour sisters overcome small town prejudices and ethnic distrust. And why not? Speaking through the universal language of food, the sisters blend into the fabric of Irish life while enriching it. While not my usual read, I was curious to see how the sisters adapted after Pomegranate Soup. I'm pleased to say, this was a worthy sequel and still left room for more.

The book is like hot tea, you have to sip it slowly and not gulp it down at one go. One of those books which, if you just look at the content, is not anything special but leaves a "feel good" aftertaste. I read her first book "Pomegranate Soup and enjoyed it and now after reading this one I am a fan

More than a year has passed since the three Aminpour sisters (Marjan, Bahar and Layla) sought refuge in the Irish town of Ballinacroagh. Since opening the Babylon Café, they have charmed the locals with both their Persian cuisine, and their warm hearts.

But their lives are turned upside down when a young woman with a dark secret is found on Clew Bay Beach sending the town into an uproar. At the same time, each of the sisters is dealing with her own transformation: Marjan meets a handsome young writer; Bahar finds a spiritual peace; and Layla is maturing into a young woman.
This novel is a sequel to "Pomegranate Soup' and while it can be read as a standalone novel, I'd recommend reading them both in order. There are a number of interesting secondary characters in the novel, including the wonderful, warm Estelle Domenico, and the interfering busybody Dervla Quigley.

While aspects of the story did not appeal to me as much as the earlier book, the inclusion of some delightful and relatively simple Persian recipes made the experience more satisfying. This is a comparatively light read, and I enjoyed reacquainting myself with the Aminpour sisters, and the people of Ballinacroagh.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

..but I still really enjoyed this book. There is nothing on the cover of this book (at least the Australian version) which indicates it is a sequel. So when I found this out I wasn't sure if I should read the first book before this one. I decided not to, and found that I still enjoyed the story, the plot made sense and it just didn't seem to be an issue. This book was easy to read - I only read of an evening and I finished it in 3 or 4 days. Now I can't wait to read the previous book to find out what happened to the sisters before Rosewater and Soda Bread.

Warm, witty and magical, Mehran's Rosewater & Soda Bread was a delightful read. The three Aminpour sisters are deliciously different and equally captivating throughout the story. You fall in love with them on the first page. Anxiously awaiting another novel from this bright young author!

I really looked forward to this sequel to Mehran's first book, "Pomegranate Soup" which I adored.

Unfortunately, "Rosewater and Soda Bread" disappointed me. I thought the writing was not nearly as good as the other book, it was disorganized, and had too many story lines going on. Additionally, the majority of the story lines were unresolved (the girl, Julian, etc.) Did the author just run out of steam or what?

And where was an editor, to make this book a cohesive whole instead of a disorganized mess?

In "Rosewater and Soda Bread," Marsha Mehran's followup to Pomegranate Soup: A Novel, the Aminpour sisters Marjan, Bahar, and Layla continue their adventures in West Ireland circa 1987, a year after they opened their Iranian restaurant Babylon Cafe. After fleeing personal tragedies in Revolutionary Iran, the sisters seek some sense of normalcy in their new homeland. They've managed to make the Babylon Café successful despite the meddling of Dervla Quigly, a bossy and dour "moral guardian" who detests anyone (or anything) foreign and is determined to cause trouble, and against the will of Thomas McGuire, who, like his counterpart from Chocolat, broke into their restaurant and attempted to destroy their livelihood.

Marjan, the eldest, acts as the protector of her younger siblings after their parents died. She finds herself distanced and unable to open up to a man who shows interest in her, while her sister Bahar, who suffered unspeakable trauma at the hands of her sadistic husband while still in Iran, secretly clings to the Catholic religion. Brassy Layla wants to "go all the way" with her boyfriend Malachy, going as far as asking Marjan to order "protection."

In the middle of these domestic dramas, a crisis is unfolding in their sleepy village: a beautiful young woman washes up on the shore suffering from internal injuries. She's found naked, won't or can't speak, and her fingers are mysteriously webbed like a mermaid's. Her savior is the elderly Italian immigrant Estelle Delmonico, who at her advanced age is alone, childless, and crippled with arthritis.

Yet other secondary characters from "Pomegranate Soup" make appearances, but if you haven't read the first novel, these names (and subplots) are forgettable. The material feels more like a short story than a full-length novel, and the origins of the mysterious "mermaid" are only briefly touched upon towards the very end; indeed, her actual origins seem anticlimactic after the risks and dangers that Marjan, Estelle, and others take to conceal and protect the girl from the Irish authorities.

Despite the lightweight subplots, "Rosewater and Soda Bread" is a delightfully told tale of food (luscious descriptions and recipes of Persian cuisine), culture (Irish as well as Persian), the mysteries of religion and the heart, and the deep bonds of sisterhood. It's a read that fans of Chocolat, Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies and Garden Spells (Bantam Discovery) will enjoy.

After reading Marsha Mehran's first novel, Pomegranate Soup, about the three Aminpour sisters and the changes they bring to a sleepy Irish town, I knew I was going to be reading the next story in the series.

Set in the 1980's, the three Aminpour sisters -- Marjan, Bahar and Layla -- have fled the revolutionary world of the Shah's Iran to a more uncertain future in the West. Their first stop was London, and struggling to survive, along with living in fear -- events chronicled in Pomegranate Soup. Now they've come to a little Irish town, Ballinacroagh, famous as a site of pilgrimage of St. Patrick, and home to a wide cast of rather curious sorts.

When Rosewater and Soda Bread opens, Marjan and her sisters have been running the Babylon Cafe for eighteen months, and settling into their new lives. Marjan still mothers her sisters, doing most of the cooking and work around the cafe and Layla is still in school and with young Malachi McGuire. But new things are turning up, what with Layla and Malachi wondering if they should explore sex or not, and Bahar has been vanishing somewhere every couple of days -- the why of which both of her sisters can not or have not figured out. For Marjan, it's the arrival of an author from England, Julian Muir, who has caught her attention. Julian is working on restoring his family estate, and when Marjan finds out that he can quote Rumi and spent some time in Iran, she's smitten, even though her sense of trust tells her not to put too much faith in him.

Estelle Delmonico has also returned, and a great deal of the story revolves about the consequences when she finds a lovely -- but mute -- young woman washed up on the beach, nearly naked and injured. In among the preparations for Halloween, rumours of witches and wicked doings are circulating around the village, many of them started by that evil gossip, Dervla Quigley, and her particular hatred of the three sisters.

While I did enjoy reading the unfolding relationship between Marjan and Julian, and Layla turns out to be far more sensible than most teenagers that I know of, the character that I really wanted to smack hard (besides the busybody Mrs. Quigley) was Bahar. I just couldn't buy a lot of what she was doing, and I would think that after the earlier events in her life, she wouldn't be such a judgmental and condemning person -- if she continues this way will remain to be seen if there is a third novel about the sisters.

Along the way, there are plenty of interesting tidbits about Persian cooking, Zoroastrian thought, and commentary about the modern world versus tradition. While it tends to be on the light side, there are still plenty of serious ideas being touched on, but Ms. Mehran doesn't get bogged down or mired too deeply in it. The story moves along briskly, and the novel itself is a quick read at just a couple of hours.

Weaving through all of this are a look at Father Mahoney's new hobby, the question of abortion and contraception in modern Ireland -- still a very hot topic twenty years on -- and the role of healing in the modern world. While Mehran doesn't get preachy about it, the entire question of free choice does come up, and she handles it well, leaving the reader to form his or her own judgment. In any case, the why behind the character's decision to do what they did isn't taken lightly, and the motivations are pretty valid.

As well as the story itself, a wonderful addition are a collection of Persian and Irish recipes, all reasonably simple for the adventuresome cook. There is also an imaginary interview between the author and Estelle Delmonico, and a list of questions for reader's groups to discuss.

While it is not necessary to have read the earlier novel, it does help in fitting in the dynamics between the three sisters, and the residents of Ballinacroagh. This is fiction that is on the light side, and while a few quesitons do get answered, there are plenty of dangling threads to be taken up in later novels if the author decides to continue on.

All in all, this gets a solid four star rating from me. While it's not as involving as the first book, it's still fun to find out more about the three sisters and the other denizens of Ballinacroagh.

I was initially going to give this book a meager two stars. I didn't really like it and I felt like I didn't understand a lot of it. The author didn't seem to explain anything - who these characters were and what in the world they were doing in the middle of Ireland. I was confused, a little lost, and just didn't enjoy the experience of reading the book. I was even more puzzled after I got on Amazon.com and saw that the average rating for the book was 4 stars - were other readers getting something that I wasn't? I admit, by about ¼ of the way through the book, I was skimming. Heavily. Through that process, I might have missed some key explanatory details. But no, all became clear when the word "sequel" caught my eye in an Amazon.com review. Then I understood all and bumped up my rating a star, just to be fair.

Rosewater and Soda Bread is actually a sequel to Mehran's earlier book, Pomegranate Soup. I obviously wasn't aware of this when I put Rosewater and Soda Bread on my TBR list, but I really wish I had been. I feel like read the books in order would have explained so much, and I actually might have enjoyed Rosewater and Soda Bread.

However, I still had issues, despite the lack of understanding. The characters seem to be extremely flighty, especially the 16-year-old Layla, who is insisting on having sex with her long-term boyfriend. The thing is, even the boyfriend seems ambivalent about having sex at such a young age. And not once did either of her sisters say "At least wait until you are eighteen." Not once did her sisters ask her why she was in such a hurry to become sexually active. I'm not trying to start a debate on sexually active teens, but if it were my little sister, I would be concerned. I would be realistic - there would be nothing I could do to stop her, but I would still raise it as an issue. Granted, there was a lot going on in the book, and the Layla issue did get pushed to the side for quite awhile. But that still bothered me.

There were also a lot of loose ends that weren't tied up. I'm guessing that is because the author is planning on writing another sequel, but unfortunately, I won't be reading it, or the prequel either. I feel like if I had read them in order, my experience would have been much more positive, but as it is, I think I'll just stay away from this series.