Summer evenings are perfect for attending book readings. Yesterday I attended Marjan Kamali’s launch for her third novel The Lion Women of Tehran, held at Belmont Books. I was delighted to be one of some 200 enthusiastic fans. People on the stairs, on the floor, in the folding chairs of course, but also standing up for an hour. The event was especially remarkable with all the positive energy Marjan inspired. The bookshop sold lots of books and the line for signature was very, very long. Marjan invited everyone to an after-party at the restaurant next door. What an evening!
Earlier in the day, I met with Yelena Lembersky with whom I will be in conversation July 24 at the Wellfleet Library. Her fascinating memoir is entitled Like a Drop of Ink in a Downpour. The book recounts her childhood in Leningrad. It will be interesting to speak about the connections that link the two. Mine, The Nansen Factor, is a collection of short stories written and revised in Wellfleet. Here’s a description from the Academic Studies Press website: “This bold debut collection of stories follows the lives of those displaced by the Bolshevik Revolution and their descendants, shining a light on the lasting impact of displacement and the resiliency of the human spirit.”
Marjan, who blurbed The Nansen Factor, really got what I had done regarding displacement after having lived in seven countries herself. I pre-ordered The Lion Women of Tehran and have not yet received my copy. I do look forward to reading it!
