Usually the Wednesday Morning Book Club is held on the
fourth Wednesday of the month (which would be November 23) but that is the day
before Thanksgiving so we've changed it to the 30th.
Unfortunately there were some bookmarks out with the
incorrect date, I don't know how many might have gone out, so it's possible
people might come in looking for book group on that Wednesday morning. If so,
apologize for the mistake and let them know it will be the next week.
We'll be discussing Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin
Darznik:
A spellbinding debut novel about the trailblazing poet
Forugh Farrokhzhad, who defied Iranian society to find her voice and her
destiny
“Remember the flight, for the bird is mortal.”—Forugh
Farrokhzad
All through her childhood in Tehran, Forugh is told that
Iranian daughters should be quiet and modest. She is taught only to obey, but
she always finds ways to rebel—gossiping with her sister among the fragrant
roses of her mother’s walled garden, venturing to the forbidden rooftop to
roughhouse with her three brothers, writing poems to impress her strict,
disapproving father, and sneaking out to flirt with a teenage paramour over
café glacé. It’s during the summer of 1950 that Forugh’s passion for poetry
really takes flight—and that tradition seeks to clip her wings.
Forced into a suffocating marriage, Forugh runs away and
falls into an affair that fuels her desire to write and to achieve freedom and
independence. Forugh’s poems are considered both scandalous and brilliant; she
is heralded by some as a national treasure, vilified by others as a demon
influenced by the West. She perseveres, finding love with a notorious filmmaker
and living by her own rules—at enormous cost. But the power of her writing
grows only stronger amid the upheaval of the Iranian revolution.
Inspired by Forugh Farrokhzad’s verse, letters, films, and
interviews—and including original translations of her poems—Jasmin Darznik has
written a haunting novel, using the lens of fiction to capture the tenacity,
spirit, and conflicting desires of a brave woman who represents the birth of
feminism in Iran—and who continues to inspire generations of women around the
world..
As usual there is a virtual Webex for those who are unable
to attend in person.
Both the online calendar and the printed calendar have the
correct date, I've also notified those members that our on our email list.
thanks,
