Age of Orphans

A nine-year-old Kurdish boy plays in his village in the Persian mountains, gazing over the land of his fathers and forefathers. But when messengers from the hills bring whispers of war and rumours that the Shah's army is on the march, he must stand alongside his villagers and fight for their land. Years later, he can only faintly recall the brutal murder of his father and cousins. Orphaned on the battlefield, conscripted and given a new name, Reza is married and has risen up the ranks to become Captain. But there are stirrings within his heart. He will soon be sent west to Kermanshah, to rule as the Shah's servant in the land of his birth. 'Bold and beautiful ... Khadivi's language is sensuous and rich ... At a time when western readers' perceptions of Iran are too often shaped by current affairs, this book and its sequels will shine a necessary light on the country's dawn, and on its people's remarkable history' Financial Times 'A heart-warming and emotional read' Stylist 'Assured and endlessly creative, Khadivi's lyrical prose gets inside the damaged psychology of the orphan, bringing his terrifying loss of identity, and a broad expanse of history, to life' Metro 'Khadivi's debut novel, remarkable for its beautiful and brutal poetry, tells the story of a lost Kurdish child and the history of "this invisible thing called Iran"' Independent