Strand of a Thousand Pearls

by Dorit Rabinyan

Book Overview

For fans of Isabelle Allende and Laura Esquivel, here is the sensuous, spellbinding story of the Azizyan family-a story of love, marriage, and mischief by the bestselling, award-winning Dorit... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375508112
• ISBN13: 9780375508110
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

so beautiful

I read this book last year and still remember its effect. Sad, soulful and just beutiful. The writing is a joy and the child's character is so precisely lonely and lost. Most recommended.

Good Read

Strand of a Thousand Pearls is the story of Solly and Iran Azizyan and their children: Matti, who believes her dead twin shares her body; Marcelle, who sleeps only two hours a night; Sofia, who marries unhappily and gives birth to a sickly son; Maurice, the only son, born with his heart beating on the wrong side; and Lizzie, who has a most unusual habit. Beautifully written and infused with magic, this novel reads like a fairy tale for grownups.

Lyrical storytelling!

The story of Iran's family bittersweet. She is married to Solly Azizyan, a fisherman who is very tender with his wife and family. They have four daughters (Sophia with a coughing baby, Marcelle, Lizzie, and Mattie, whose twin brother Moni was stillborn) and one son Maurice. Mattie is brought home from school for her birthday gathering, which becomes the backdrop for the entire flashback of this family's life. As the story develops, it explores how each characecter seeks love and has that wish either fulfilled or denied. Reminiscent of the writing of Arundhati Roy, the story is told in rich language. It is ripe with exotic smells, sights and sensual references. The story moves back and forth in time from the Matti Azizyan's birthday party to the evolving past. Its characters are intensely interesting. The chapters about the siblings are the most notable in defining this book, showing a sense of family and parent's love that is deep and moving. The end is intense and beautiful but not exactly clear.