The Sea of Tears: A Novel - Softcover

Power, Nani

3.63

35 ratings by Goodreads

9781582435022: The Sea of Tears: A Novel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1582435022 ISBN 13: 9781582435022

Publisher: Counterpoint, 2009

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This is all about love,” begins The Sea of Tears, a story that is infused with the sensuality and smarts that have established Nani Power as one of our most compelling writers. This otherworldly novel delves into the tangled relationships and hidden world of people brought together and torn apart under extraordinary circumstances: Jedra has fled his native Iraq and is working in the boiler room at the Royale Hotel, where he pines for Phyllis, the front-desk clerk who mysteriously remembers heaven. Khouri, an Iranian engineer, attends a business conference at the Royale, where he meets Patricia, a single mother and hotel maid, and finds himself wanting in ways he never has before. And in the penthouse apartment, young loner Daniel cannot escape his memories of Brazil, and only makes contact with the outside world through room service delivery. That is, until the hotel chef, Leslie Downing, comes knocking on his door.

Harking back to The Arabian Nights and the poetry of Rumi, but with a decidedly modern eye toward the clashing and mingling of cultures, the result is a mesmerizing invitation to take seriously the desires of one’s heart.

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About the Author:

Nani Power has worked as a Manhattan caterer, a nanny, a nursing home aide, a chef in a Japanese restaurant, and as a sandwich seller on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Both of her previous novels were named New York Times Notable Books of the Year. She lives in The Plains, Virginia.

From Publishers Weekly:

Love is in the air at the Royale, a Washington, D.C., hotel inhabited by a motley collection of emotionally wounded and desperately lonely folk in this third novel by Powers (The Good Remains; Crawling at Night). Maintenance man Jedra Abdullah secretly pines for pretty, troubled front desk clerk, Phyllis, who speaks the ancient tongues, sees angels and has memories of heaven. A Persian engineer, Khouri Karimi, attends a conference at the hotel and meets Patricia, a single mother working as a maid. And in the penthouse apartment, Daniel Espiritu dreams of Brazil and composes a cookbook, My Life in Recipes, in a desperate attempt to evoke his lush homeland and his doomed affair with the family maid. This fantasy sustains Daniel until Leslie, the hotel chef, knocks at his door. In her lushly lyrical voice, Power fashions a world filled with orphans who cling to ritualistic traditions and the romance of their pasts. The story lines echo each other too often, and Power's characters cleave to type—the women are mostly blonde and voluptuous, and the men dark, lean and foreign—but Power weaves a fine yarn of the lost and lonely seeking intimacy and love.
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