Her descriptions are so incredibly lush you feel as much as read them - I could smell the cardamom in the chai, the camellias in the garden. Here is a portrait of a country completely at odds with the media's portrayals: the sensuous, intellectual and social Iran that Mohammadi left behind... in the author's nostalgic depiction, one finds both a world that has passed away and one being born again.

THE CYPRESS TREE is vivid testimony to Kamin Mohammadi's ebullient, irrepressible family whose courage to endure carries them through revolution, exile and return to triumphant survival. Devoid of self-pity and full of grace, the Mohammadi family motto might as well be: Whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger. A memoir to inspire.

The heartfelt tale of a family shaped by the tumultuous drama of twentieth century Iran, THE CYPRESS TREE is a profoundly affecting meditation on the shattering experience of exile.

A fascinating insight on a topic much discussed but rarely understood from a human perspective. Recommended reading for anyone with an interest in the Middle East.

Deftly weaving in Iran's history, Mohammadi has created a tender account of the culture.