When I was nine years old, my childhood came to an end; at fifteen, I fell in love; and at twenty, I buried all my dreams and hopes and grew old.
When Anahita Weber thinks about her childhood in Iran, she pictures a life full of endings. In The Swan, author Banoo Mehr creates a powerful portrait of one woman finding a way to start again against a backdrop of revolution and instability.
Anahita has a happy childhood in Iran until a debilitating illness blinds her beloved brother. Anahita and Babak always had a special connection, and she can't bear to see him suffer. While her father devotes himself to nurturing Babak's musical talents, her mother retreats into her grief. The two siblings cope with family changes by sharing a passion for song.
Together, the two of them grow up in a world of political and religious conflict. Like so many others, the siblings find their lives unimaginably changed by the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and they both struggle to move forward after unbearable tragedies.
Anahita escapes Iran to build a new life, but her past and the loss of her home haunt her. Can she ever be healed?
About the Author: Banoo Mehr published The Swan in Farsi in 2012. She is now bringing her work to American audiences with an English translation.
Mehr received her doctorate in history from Goethe University in Frankfurt-Germany. She taught European history there before she moved to the United States in 2007.
She teaches history at the Long Beach College Senior Studies Center and instructs children and young adults on the German language and classical guitar. Mehr also continues to work on her writing. She lives with her husband in Seal Beach, California.
