A review by twistinthetale
Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani

2.0

Two stars seems a bit harsh and, really, on a scale, this would edge very close to three, for me. I loved the setting and was eager to read about the political upheaval in Iran. It seems I know very little about this long-lived conflict having gleaned information from sporadic media coverage. Reading of the human impact of the political upheaval over this time period was the stand-out feature of this novel. I was intrigued to learn that the author, herself, was born in prison in Tehran, mirroring the events at the beginning of the novel. The novel spans about 30 years and several generations and we see the impact on children growing up amongst uncertainty and fear. My biggest criticism of the novel is that, as the story moves from one character to the next, I didn't seem to remain engaged and invested in the story of each woman.