The House on Sun Street, Mojgan Ghazirad
The House on Sun Street, Mojgan Ghazirad
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The House on Sun Street

Author: Mojgan Ghazirad

Narrator: Nikki Massoud

Unabridged: 9 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/23/2024


Synopsis

For the curious and imaginative Moji, there is no better place to grow up than the lush garden of her grandparents in Tehran. However, as she sits with her sister underneath the grapevines, listening to their grandfather recount the enchanting stories of One Thousand and One Nights, revolution is brewing in her homeland. Soon, the last monarch of Iran will leave the country, and her home and her family will never be the same. From Moji’s house on Sun Street, listeners experience the 1979 Iranian revolution through the eyes of a young girl and her family members during a time of concussive political and social change. Moji must endure the harrowing first days of the violent revolution, a fraught passage to the US where there is only hostility from her classmates during the Iranian hostage crisis, her father’s detainment by the Islamic Revolutionary Army, and finally, the massive change in the status of women in post-revolution Iran. Along with these seismic shifts, for Moji, there are also the universal perils of love, sexuality, and adolescence. However, since Moji’s school is centered on political indoctrination, even a young girl’s innocent crush can mean catastrophe. Is Moji able to pull through? Will her family come to her rescue? And just like Scheherazade, will the power of stories help her prevail?

About Mojgan Ghazirad

Mojgan Ghazirad is a medical doctor and currently works as an assistant professor of pediatrics at The George Washington University. She holds an MFA in creative writing and has published three collections of short stories in Farsi. Her essays have appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Idaho Review, Longreads, The Common, Bombay Review, and Assignment. She lives with her family in Great Falls, Virginia.

About Nikki Massoud

Nikki Massoud is the Audie Award-winning narrator of over thirty audiobooks. Also an experienced actor, her television credits include guest starring on Love Life, Emergence, and Madam Secretary, and her stage credits include Wish You Were Here at Playwrights Horizons and Othello at New York Theatre Workshop. She is also an Atlantic Launch Commission writer. Based in New York City, she is a first-generation Iranian-American immigrant who was raised in Montreal and Washington, DC.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rosh ~catching up slowly~ on February 02, 2024

In a Nutshell: A historical autofiction based on a young girl’s recollections of what happened in Iran during and after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Not as traumatic as I had expected, which is both good and bad. Impactful in its writing. Disliked the final quarter or so, but the rest was great. ~~~~......more

Goodreads review by Caroline on November 25, 2023

not what I usually read, but wow!! the descriptions and imagery were so beautifully written, I felt like I could picture everything from Moji’s pov......more

Goodreads review by Jasminegalsreadinglog on October 11, 2023

The House On Sun Street by Mojgan Ghazirad is a literary fiction that almost is a semi autobiographical story. With quotes from One Thousand and One Nights, it explores a country changing and how a girl's life changes in an instant. It explores a family's changing dynamics, beliefs, tradition, cultu......more

Goodreads review by Amanda on January 30, 2024

Revolution is brewing in Iran as the monarchy is overthrown and young Moji’s life is about to change. Raised in an apartment in Tehran with her parents and younger sister, she and her family move to Alabama when her father retires early from the Shah’s army to continue his education. Life isn’t easy......more

Goodreads review by Lindsay♫SingerOfStories♫ on November 03, 2024

This was an OwnVoices historical autofiction story of Moji as a young girl in Iran during and after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Each chapter opens with excerpts from the Arabian book of ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ which Moji grows up listening to from her grandfather. I really enjoyed these. It w......more


Quotes

Mojgan Ghazirad's debut novel is a polished gem for readers across age groups . . . an unforgettable journey through history, the pains of growing up, and the power of storytelling.