Can you ever go back?

The Saffron Kitchen
by Yasmin Crowther

We meet Maryam, a transplanted Iranian, as a middle-aged woman married to an Englishman and living in London. From the very beginning we know that Maryam has secrets and sadness in her past that permeate her life. When a crisis occurs involving her daughter, Sara, Maryam flees back to Iran to resolve what has haunted her all her life, leaving her family who need her and do not understand.

Yasmin Crowther is a wonderful writer who makes us feel Maryam’s predicament and pain. Both story lines, one in London involving her husband and daughter and the other in Iran, are equally interesting and involving. There has been criticism that the transition between the two locales is jarring, but I did not experience that. There is much to think about and this would make a good choice for a book discussion.