SHAPPI KHORSANDI
u003cbu003eHilarious and heartwarming, this memoir is the story of growing up in a strange land where you don't speak the language, everyone smells like milk, and to top it off, the Ayatollah wants you and your family deadu003c/bu003eu003cbu003eu003c/bu003e In the tradition of Nancy Mitford's u003ciu003eThe Pursuit of Loveu003c/iu003e and Gerald Durrell's u003ciu003eMy Family and Other Animalsu003c/iu003e, comes a story of a young narrator in the midst of her eccentric family. But rather than landed gentry or bohemian travelers, it's a mad extended Iran clan who flee Tehran to 1980s Britain after the fall the Shah. Five year old Shappi and her beloved brother Peyvand arrive with their parents in London--all cold weather and strange food--without a word of English. If adapting to a new culture isn't troubling enough, it soon becomes clear that the Ayatollah's henchmen are in pursuit. With the help of MI5, Shappi's family go into hiding. So apart from checking under the family car for bombs every morning, Shappi's childhood is like any other kids--swings in the park, school plays, kiss-chase, and terrorists.u003c/bu003e
