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Gina Nahai's best-selling novel, CRY OF THE PEACOCK, is a sweeping tale of the persecution and intolerance of Jews in Iran, set against the backdrop of the rise and fall of Muslim kings and shahs. Rich with history and evocative of place, CRY OF THE PEACOCK's moving portrait of an oppressed people never becomes disconsolate. Instead, like the veils that mask the faces of women in Iran, the lives of this forgotten people are brought into stark relief through the author's storytelling prowess. Throughout the novel flows an undercurrent of mysticism and superstition reminiscent of Latin American authors Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabelle Allende; but restrained by the realities of this world, this contrast provides both a concrete foundation upon which to build characters and places, yet allows a freedom of imagination that is vital to bringing this affecting tale of one family to life. Nahai's depiction of this family, its morality, and the way it endures the repression of Islamic society is compelling and believable.
The story begins in 1796, with magical Esther the Soothsayer's flight from a childless fate. She watches her descendants through 200 years of war, plagues, and perseverance, all of which mark the existence of the oldest group of Jews outside the Diaspora. Esther's prophetic words are the key to the fortunes of mighty Islamic rulers and the Jews of Iran, told while naming her great-granddaughter, Peacock. Peacock the Jew is 116 years old when she finds herself in prison shortly after the revolution that brings the Ayatollah Khomeni to power in Iran. The times are tumultuous, but Peacock knows that all power is transitory. Throughout her life, she has gone from most favored by those in power to cast into the gutter by her husband; she has been the object of ridicule and desire, often simultaneously. Ultimately, she holds to her faith and the assurance that, despite the predicaments she and her people have faced, her progeny has secured a better life in the United States.
Nahai's narrative captures the gestures and daily habits of the impoverished ghetto dwellers of Persia. Each person, as the story moves from Esther through her children and children's children, becomes the focus of the account. Peacock's prison experience bookends the telling, as classic themes of misunderstanding between Jew and Muslim, impoverished and wealthy play out. Although a work of fiction, Nahai based the novel in part on interviews with Iranian Jews; her language captures the wonderful rhythm and flow of everyday speech, though sometimes the voices of individuals feel awkward as the point of view changes. In the end, the use of expansive sentences serves to illustrate the complexity of speech and thought as well as the underlying struggles occurring in each character.
Nahai, a Jew and a native of Iran, lives in the United States and teaches writing at the University of Southern California. Now in paperback, CRY OF THE PEACOCK could be her own family's story, or the story of any Jew whose family has found freedom in the United States.
--- Reviewed by Kelly Koepke
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