Bone Worship

Elizabeth Eslami

A rich and soul-searching novel about an Iranian-American girl whose enigmatic father has decided to arrange her marriage.

Jasmine Fahroodhi has always been fascinated by her enigmatic Iranian father. With his strange habits and shrouded past, she can't fathom how he ended up marrying her prim American mother.

But lately love in general feels just as incomprehensible. After a disastrous romance sends her into a tailspin, causing her to fail out of college just shy of graduation, a conflicted Jasmine returns home without any idea where her life is headed.

Her father has at least one idea—he has big plans for a hastegar, an arranged marriage. Confused, furious, but intrigued, Jasmine searches for her match, meeting suitor after suitor with increasingly disastrous (and humorous) results. As she begins to open herself up to the mysteries of familial and romantic love, Jasmine discovers the truth about her father, and an even more evasive figure—herself—in this highly original and striking debut novel.

Iranian-American author Elizabeth Eslami was born in South Carolina in 1978.  She holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Warren Wilson College. She has published numerous short stories. Bone Worship is her first novel. She lives in Eugene, OR.

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