The House That War Minister Built

In the crumbling days of the Qajar dynasty, Nargess's fate seems sealed as the upstart Reza Khan Shah sends his army to surround her husband's palace. She has no idea that the greatest threat comes from within. For the next three quarters of a century, Nargess and her family will contend with arrogance, betrayal, foolishness and moral dissolution, as they search for self-love and redemption, which only one of them will find - on a deathbed in a strange land.

What is it like to belong to a harem, in thrall to a powerful warlord? Or to survive at the whim of foreign opportunism? The House That War Minister Built examines these issues and many others as it portrays an Iranian family dispossessed by the conflicts between a medieval religion and a modernizing population, between emerging nationalism and foreign repression. At times tragic, at times humorous, the novel is an epic saga with iconic characters, cultural insights and evocative historical details, covering the Iranian experience from the 1920s into the post 9/11 era. Tapping an unmet desire for epic fiction about Iran and Shia Islam, it will appeal to readers who liked Reading Lolita in Tehran, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.