---
title: "The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar"
description: "Description: I discovered this novel at Hagar Books, which always has a lovely display in the window. I loved the fun colours on the cover, I haven't read many Iranian authors, and the book was..."
url: https://somisguided.com/2020/03/03/the-enlightenment-of-the-greengage-tree-by-shokoofeh-azar/
date: 2020-03-03
modified: 2020-04-19
author: "Monique"
categories: ["Book Reviews"]
tags: ["fiction"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar

![](https://somisguided.com/wp-content/uploads/enlightenment-greengage-azar-1019x1024.png)

**Description: **I discovered this novel at (https://hagerbooks.ca/), which always has a lovely display in the window. I loved the fun colours on the cover, I haven’t read many Iranian authors, and the book was published by Europa Editions–a publisher I recently discovered.

Azar’s writing reminds me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and *The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree* has that 100-Years-of-Solitude. It also reminds me of Madeleine Thien’s (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/259732/do-not-say-we-have-nothing-by-madeleine-thien/9780345810434) Azar’s writing is beautiful, the story is spellbinding yet sad, there’s a mystical element to the storytelling, and Azar has an interesting and playful voice.

I say it’s like Thien in that we are deep into the worst of Iran’s Islamic Republic Revolution. It’s hard to read about the grief of a family, young men hanged without trial, children killed in fire bombs. From Thien, I came to better understand China’s Cultural Revolution. From Azar, I got a good introduction to Persian storytelling and traditions. Plus the book is littered with literary quotes and references!

**Favourite quote:** I love the fairytale elements, the tricksy jinns, the sister who turns into a mermaid. The opening paragraph is reflective of the overall tone of the novel:

> Beeta says that Mom attained enlightenment at exactly 2:35 P.M. on August 18, 1988, atop the grove’s tallest greengage plum tree on a hill overlooking all fifty-three village houses, to the sound of the scrubbing of pots and pans, a ruckus that pulled the grove out of its lethargy every afternoon. At that very moment, blindfolded and hands tied behind his back, Sohrab was hanged. chapter 1

**Perfect read for** fans of Neil Gaiman’s *American Gods* and Madeleine Thien’s *Do Not Say We Have Nothing*.