To Keep the Sun Alive A Novel
To Keep the Sun Alive by Rabeah Ghaffari is a novel published by Catapult on January 15, 2019. This edition spans 272 pages and is presented in English. Set against the backdrop of the impending Iranian Revolution in 1979, the story unfolds in Naishapur, where a retired judge and his wife manage their family orchard while navigating personal and political tensions that reflect the broader national crisis.
Readers will encounter a rich tapestry of characters, including family members and local figures, as they grapple with love, ambition, and the impact of political upheaval. The narrative explores themes of family life and the intricate connections between personal experiences and historical events. As the orchard flourishes, the characters’ lives intertwine with the growing unrest in the capital, culminating in a significant solar eclipse that serves as a turning point for both the family and the nation.
Official synopsis Publisher
“[A] tenderhearted début novel . . . A wide–ranging narrative, showing the enduring ramifications of filial and political violence.” —The New Yorker
The year is 1979. The Iranian Revolution is just around the corner. In the northeastern city of Naishapur, a retired judge and his wife, Bibi–Khanoom, continue to run their ancient family orchard, growing apples, plums, peaches, and sour cherries. The days here are marked by long, elaborate lunches on the terrace where the judge and his wife mediate disputes between aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews that foreshadow the looming national crisis to come. Will the monarchy survive the revolutionary tide gathering across the country? Will the judge’s brother, a powerful cleric, take political control of the town or remain only a religious leader?
And yet, life goes on. Bibi–Khanoom’s grandniece secretly falls in love with the judge’s grandnephew and dreams of a career on the stage. His other grandnephew withers away on opium dreams. A widowed father longs for a life in Europe. A strained marriage slowly unravels. The orchard trees bloom and fruit as the streets in the capital grow violent. And a once–in–a–lifetime solar eclipse, set to occur on one of the holiest days of year, finally causes the family—and the country—to break.
Told through a host of unforgettable characters, ranging from servants and young children to intimate friends, To Keep the Sun Alive reveals the personal behind the political, reminding us of the human lives that animate historical events.
“How do we recognize the moment our future has been written for us? In To Keep the Sun Alive, as the Islamic Revolution looms just outside the gate of an Iranian family orchard, Rabeah Ghaffari has built a world so lush, so precise that you will find yourself rewriting history if only to imagine it could still exist.”—Mira Jacob, author of The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing
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