Together Tea

April 29, 2013
Kamali’s debut, set in the mid-’90s, is the story of Darya and Mina Rezayi, mother and daughter in a family that emigrated to the U.S. from Iran after Mina’s grandmother was killed by an Iraqi bomb. One of three children trying to live up to their parents’ expectations, Mina would rather paint than finish her MBA. But mostly she wishes her mother, a frustrated mathematician, would stop creating spreadsheets of eligible Iranian-American men, who have so far all disappointed her. Darya’s husband embraces the can-do American spirit, but she misses prerevolutionary Iran, with its emphasis on family and tradition, and accompanies Mina on a visit to their homeland. The book’s second part takes place in Tehran, but during the revolution and the early years of the war with Iraq. Kamali’s lyrical writing is particularly vivid here, and warm, as with the many descriptions of tarof, a Persian verbal tradition. Although there are differences in Mina’s and Darya’s American experiences, the author effectively evokes the pull both women feel toward Iran. She creates empathy for a people forced to live one life in public and another privately. Agent: Wendy Sherman, Wendy Sherman Associates Literary Management.

March 15, 2013
Career, love, happiness--for Mina Rezayi, everything becomes a gently humorous negotiation between her Iranian heritage and her American hopes, between her mother and herself. Mina, who would rather be an artist than finish her MBA, flinches at the thought of another Sunday tea with a Mr. Possible. But she cannot disappoint her mother, Darya, a gifted mathematician, who, in pre-revolutionary Iran, had dreamed of becoming a professor. An arranged marriage to Parviz, whom she eventually came to love deeply, and three children, however, dashed those plans. After escaping the oppressive Islamic regime and making a home in America, Parviz works hard, earns an American medical license and brims with irrepressible optimism. He channels his enthusiastic you-can-do-it attitude into convincing Darya to start a Saturday afternoon math camp. With only two other members--Yung-Ja and Kavita--the club is the highlight of her week, and the women engage in complex mathematical acrobatics as well as competing over whose homeland has suffered the worst upheavals. Sighing with exasperation, Darya even allows Parviz to register her for a night class on spreadsheets, where she meets Sam, who's just a friend, right? Constructing complex graphs, charts and spreadsheets, Darya evaluates potential husbands for Mina. So far, her matchmaking efforts have been thorough yet unsuccessful. But one Sunday, Mr. Dashti comes to tea. And Mr. Dashti looks strangely relieved when Mina rejects him. His unexpected reaction intrigues Mina, and she begins to dream about returning to Iran. Maybe there she could resolve her own identity crisis. To her surprise, Darya decides to accompany her. Deftly threaded memories of Iran and of the revolution's effects on their family enrich the story as Mina and Darya gain sympathy for each other's struggles. Sparkling dialogue and warm characters make Kamali's debut novel perfect for book clubs.

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May 1, 2013
Joining a growing list of Middle Eastern American immigration novels is Kamali's lively debut about one Iranian family making the difficult adjustment to life in the U.S. Parviz and Darya; their 10-year-old daughter, Mina; and her two older brothers came to New York City in 1982, when Iraq began dropping bombs on Iran. Fifteen years later, Darya has given up her dream of becoming a mathematician, using her skills, instead, to calculate statistics pertaining to available Iranian bachelors for Mina, assigning points for everything from good teeth to graduate degrees. Mina is exasperated with her mother's matchmaking, and disillusioned with business school. She concludes she desperately needs a break, and tells her parents she wants to journey to Iran and rediscover the country they left behind. Darya wants to accompany her daughter, so off they gohoping to reaffirm Mina's roots and perhaps strengthen their relationship as well. Kamali perfectly captures the sights, sounds, and smells of Tehran as relatives celebrate with one extravagant party after the other. Humor, romance, and tradition all combine in an enjoyable chick-lit tale, Iranian style.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)