PASADENA — ColoradoBoulevard.net:
Sparks Like Stars book by Nadia Hashimi
Pasadena Public Library announced their book selection for Pasadena’s 2023 One City, One Story community reading celebration.
By News Desk
Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi is the 2023 One City, One Story selection.
One City, One Story community programs will be held throughout March. An in-person conversation with the author will be held Friday, March 24, 2023, at 7:00 pm at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.
Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives in this brilliant and compelling novel.
Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man. But the 10-year-old Sitara’s world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara’s entire family. Only she survives.
Smuggled out of the palace by a guard named Shair, Sitara finds her way to the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her in America. In her new country, Sitara takes on a new name—Aryana Shepherd—and throws herself into her studies, eventually becoming a renowned surgeon. A survivor, Aryana has refused to look back, choosing instead to bury the trauma and devastating loss she endured.
New York, 2008: Thirty years after that fatal night in Kabul, Aryana’s world is rocked again when an elderly patient appears in her examination room—a man she never expected to see again. It is Shair, the soldier who saved her, yet may have murdered her entire family. Seeing him awakens Aryana’s fury and desire for answers—and, perhaps, revenge. Aryana embarks on a quest that takes her back to Kabul and through shadowy memories of the world she loved and lost.
Nadia Hashimi
Novelist Nadia Hashimi is a pediatrician and author. Her novels for adults and children are inspired by the people, culture and history of Afghanistan but take on the global themes of displacement, conflict, patriarchy and colonialism. She is a member of the US Afghan Women’s Council, Afghan American Foundation and Welcome.US, and serves on the boards of non-profit organizations. Originally from New York, she lives with her husband, four spirited children, and one exceptionally hungry dog in Potomac, Maryland.
Nadia Hashimi’s new novel, Sparks Like Stars, is available in print, large type, eBook, eAudio and CD audiobook formats to checkout at Pasadena Public Library and for purchase at local bookstores.
Now in its 21st year, Pasadena’s One City, One Story is designed to broaden and deepen an appreciation of reading and literature and to promote tolerance and understanding of differing points of view by recommending a compelling book that engages the community in conversation.
Conversation with Nadia Hashimi Friday, March 24 7:00 pm Location Pasadena Presbyterian Church 585 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena
Leave a Reply