Stonewall Book Award Winner * A Best Book of the Year from the Guardian, ALA Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and BookPage
From the award-winning author of Like a Love Story comes a sweeping story of three generations of boys in the same Iranian family. Perfect for fans of Last Night at the Telegraph Club and Darius the Great Is Not Okay.
2019. Moud is an out gay teen living in Los Angeles with his distant father, Saeed. When Moud gets the news that his grandfather in Iran is dying, he accompanies his dad to Tehran, where the revelation of family secrets will force Moud into a new understanding of his history, his culture, and himself.
1978. Saeed is an engineering student with a promising future ahead of him in Tehran. But when his parents discover his involvement in the country's burgeoning revolution, they send him to safety in America, a country Saeed despises. And even worse--he's forced to live with the American grandmother he never knew existed.
1939. Bobby, the son of a calculating Hollywood stage mother, lands a coveted MGM studio contract. But the fairy-tale world of glamour he's thrust into has a dark side.
Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Angeles, this tale of intergenerational trauma and love is an ode to the fragile bonds of family, the hidden secrets of history, and all the beautiful moments that make us who we are today.
A CCBC 2024 Choices for the Fiction for Young Adult category!
Spanning decades and continents, three timelines unravel a shared history they never knew they had. But can a family fractured by secrets ever truly become whole?
- Triple Timeline: Follow Moud in modern-day L.A. and Tehran, his father Saeed during the 1978 Iranian Revolution, and his grandfather Bobby in the shadows of 1939 Old Hollywood.
- Father Son Relationships: A journey to Iran forces Moud and his distant father to confront the secrets and trauma that have defined their family for generations.
- Coming of Age: For Moud, discovering his family's past is the key to understanding his own Iranian-American identity, his culture, and his place in the world.
- Secret Queer History: Uncover the hidden story of three generations of gay men in one family, and the beautiful, heartbreaking moments that connect them across time.
