Set in the lively Arab communities of Los Angeles, this is a dazzling love story, performed with the unique tastes, smells, and myths of the Middle East. Sirine, half-Iraqi and half-American, was orphaned when her parents were killed during overseas aid work and largely raised by her Iraqi uncle, a storyteller that tells fantastic fables to Sirine. She cooks in a cafe owned by a Lebanese woman, which draws the neighborhood's Arab and Iranian students, expatriates, and exiles, all hungry for connections to their homes. Her ...
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Set in the lively Arab communities of Los Angeles, this is a dazzling love story, performed with the unique tastes, smells, and myths of the Middle East. Sirine, half-Iraqi and half-American, was orphaned when her parents were killed during overseas aid work and largely raised by her Iraqi uncle, a storyteller that tells fantastic fables to Sirine. She cooks in a cafe owned by a Lebanese woman, which draws the neighborhood's Arab and Iranian students, expatriates, and exiles, all hungry for connections to their homes. Her passions are aroused only by cooking until an unbearably handsome Arabic literature professor starts dropping by for a little home cooking. Falling in love with Hanif brings Siriene's whole heart to a boil--stirring up memories of her parents and questions about her own identity as an Arab American. Written in a lush, lyrical style reminiscent of The God of Small Things, infused with the flavors and scents of Middle Eastern food, and spiced with history and fable, Crescent is a sensuous love story and a gripping tale of risk and commitment.
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