About this item
Inspired by her own family's experiences following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Susanne Pari explores the entangled lives within an Iranian American family grappling with generational culture clashes, the roles imposed on women, and a tragic accident that forces them to reconcile their guilt or forfeit their already tenuous bonds. Set between San Francisco and New Jersey in the late-1990's, In the Time of Our History is a story about the universal longing to create a home in this world - and what happens when we let go of how we've always been told it should look. Twelve months after her younger sister Anahita's death, Mitra Jahani reluctantly returns to her parents' home in suburban New Jersey to observe the Iranian custom of "The One Year." Ana is always in Mitra's heart, though they chose very different paths.
About the Author
Susanne Pari is a novelist, journalist, essayist, book reviewer, and author interviewer. Born in New Jersey to an Iranian father and an American mother, she grew up both in the United States and Iran until the 1979 Islamic Revolution forced her family into permanent exile. Since then, her writing has focused on stories of displacement and belonging, of identity and assimilation, of trauma and resilience. Susanne's first novel, The Fortune Catcher, told the story of a young woman - American and Iranian, Jewish and Muslim - caught in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution. It has been translated into six languages. Her second novel, IN THE TIME OF OUR HISTORY, is about a large immigrant family grappling with the future of their traditions as their American-born children step outside their expected roles, shaking loose their foundations - and their secrets. Susanne's non-fiction writing has appeared in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, National Public Radio, and Medium. Susanne was the Program Director for the 25 literary salons of Book Group Expo and is still a strong supporter of book clubs and their facilitators. She is a mentor to immigrant and first generation writers and contributes to the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies. She taught writing for the Afghan Women's Writing Project, was a judge for The California Center for the Book's Letters About Literature Contest and for the Lakota Children's Enrichment Writing Project. She's a member of the National Book Critics Circle, PEN America, and The San Francisco Writers' Grotto. She divides her time between Northern California and New York.
