Night Letter - Hardcover

Sayres, Meghan Nuttall

3.48

46 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0984835903 ISBN 13: 9780984835904

Publisher: Nortia Press, 2013

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"This fast-paced adventure is filled with tension, excitement, and a realistic sense of history. The main characters are well drawn, and both Anahita’s independent spirit and her determination will resonate with readers. The novel is imbued with details featuring the rich and exotic rituals, dress, poetry, and customs of early-20th-century Persian and Uzbek cultures and quotes from poets such as Rumi and Omar Khayyam. Numerous Farsi words all explained in context and/or in the glossary add authenticity to the tale. The novel includes a discussion guide and notes about slavery, past and present, coupled with websites indicating ways in which readers can help victims of human trafficking. Anahita’s epic love story captures the mystique of long-ago Persia while providing a framework for exploring issues of social justice still relevant in our own times.” --Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, School Library Journal

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About the Author:

Meghan Nuttall Sayres is a tapestry weaver who has traveled to Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East and Central Asia, where she has met with scholars, carpet weavers, dyemasters, and merchants to study the age-old techniques, symbolism, and Sufi poetry that infuse many rugs woven throughout the region. Her debut novel Anahita’s Woven Riddle (reissued by Nortia Press in 2012) has been translated into Persian, Hebrew, and Italian. It was chosen as an American Library Association (ALA) Top Ten Best Books, an American Booksellers Association Book Sense/Indie Pick, and an ALA Amelia Bloomer Feminist Choice Book, among other awards. While researching Night Letter Meghan traveled by train across the deserts of Uzbekistan to the ancient cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, plotting scenes and imagining Anahita’s possible escape routes. Other books by Meghan include Weaving Tapestry in Rural Ireland and Daughters of the Desert: Tales of Remarkable Women From the Christian, Jewish and Muslim Traditions (co-author). She is also editor of the anthology Love and Pomegranates: Artists and Wayfarers on Iran. Meghan lives in Washington State. For more information about the author and this book, including discussion guides, please visit www.meghannuttallsayres.com and www.writingandwandering.blogspot.com.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 7 Up-This sequel to Anahita's Woven Riddle (Abrams, 2006) finds the nomadic weaver traveling across the desert with her grandmother on the eve of her wedding to Arash, a Persian Qajar prince. When they are kidnapped for ransom, Anahita's intellect, inner strength, and faith in Allah are fully engaged. Eventually finding herself in the emir's harem, where she is being groomed for her sigheh (a temporary marriage, designed to give the ruler an heir), she manages to send a shabnameh-a night letter-to the shah, requesting that he rescue her, as well as the women and girls unjustly enslaved there. Arash and others faithful to Anahita risk life and limb so that she might ultimately regain her freedom. This fast-paced adventure is filled with tension, excitement, and a realistic sense of history. The text rings true to the extensive research documented in the lengthy author's note. The main characters are well drawn, and both Anahita's independent spirit and her determination will resonate with readers. The novel is imbued with details featuring the rich and exotic rituals, dress, poetry, and customs of early-20th-century Persian and Uzbek cultures and quotes from poets such as Rumi and Omar Khayyam. Numerous Farsi words-all explained in context and/or in the glossary-add authenticity to the tale. The novel includes a discussion guide and notes about slavery, past and present, coupled with websites indicating ways in which readers can help victims of human trafficking. Anahita's epic love story captures the mystique of long-ago Persia while providing a framework for exploring issues of social justice still relevant in our own times.-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, formerly at LaSalle Academy, Providence, RIα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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