Half a Cup of Sand and Sky by Nadine Bjursten is about a young woman, Amineh, finding a place to belong. In Iran 1977, people are becoming restless with the current political regime. The anti-shah protests at Tehran University are increasing in intensity with more people joining in. Unlike her fellow country people, Amineh isn’t focused on the future of her country.
Amineh is focused on writing and reading beautiful literature. She wants to document her parents’ rose harvests and their familial history. Her parents tragically passed away when she was very young. Amineh is trying to keep her parents alive through her story but she is having a hard time putting her thoughts to paper.
While accompanying a friend to a protest meeting, Amineh crosses paths with Farzad. Farzad is leading the opposition against the shah and is an nuclear disarmament activist. The pair finds themselves drawn to each other, even though they are from different backgrounds. Amineh struggles when Farzad's ambitions start to overshadow and overwhelm their lives together.
I was excited to read the book because I didn’t know much about Iran’s history. However, my interest started to wane when I got towards the middle of the book and nothing was happening. For more than 200 pages, we see Amineh struggle to have a place in her husband’s life with very little story advancement. I was disappointed that we didn’t get much history about Iran. I also didn’t understand why the book would jump years during the narration because it didn’t add much to the story. I did like reading about the ethnic dishes Amineh prepared for her family. I felt like the entire book was a fluff and moved very slowly. I stopped reading halfway through because I couldn’t keep my eyes open while reading.
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