Marjan Kamali

Darya has discovered the perfect gift for her daughter's twenty-fifth birthday: an ideal husband. Mina, however, is fed up with her mother's endless matchmaking and grading of available Iranian American bachelors. After Darya's last ill-fated attempt to find Mina a husband, mother and daughter embark on a journey to Iran, where the two women gradually begin to understand each other. But after Mina falls for a young man who never appeared on her mother's spreadsheets and Darya is tempted by an American musician, will this mother and daughter's tender appreciation for each other survive?

Together Tea

Melissa Palmer

Book #51 Read in 2013
Together Tea by Marjan Kamali

Mina, her parents and her two brothers head to America from Iran during the Iran-Iraqi war. This book talks about Mina's assimilation to American life, how her mother is still trying to arrange a husband for her, and on the return visit that Mina and her mother take to Iran when Mina is in college. 

This book does a nice job describing the difficulty of fitting in to a new country, and fitting in when visiting the old country. The characters are interesting and well-developed. There is humor and romance in this book and the writing style is nice--a flavor of chick lit, but more substance. 

I enjoyed this book and recommend it. 

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Barbara Williford

“She knew how to swing her legs on that hyphen that defined and denied who she was: Iranian-American. Neither the first word nor the second really belonged to her. Her place was on the hyphen, and on the hyphen she would stay, carrying memories of the one place from which she had come and the other place in which she must succeed.”

Mina and her family fled Iran after the beginning of the revolution.  She grew up as American but never could find her place.  Her heart is still in Iran and it’s not until her and her mom return that she figures out the path for her life.

Together Tea

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