Daughters of Smoke and Fire - by Ava Homa (Paperback)

Daughters of Smoke and Fire is a powerful and timely novel that sheds light on the lives and struggles of Kurdish people, particularly women, living in Iran.

The book follows the story of Leila, a young woman who dreams of making films to bring the suppressed stories of her people onto the global stage, but faces obstacles at every turn.

Her younger brother Chia becomes increasingly engaged with social and political affairs, inspired by their father's past torture, imprisonment, and desire for justice.

But as Chia's activism grows more risky, he disappears in Tehran, and Leila begins a campaign to save him.

When she publishes Chia's writings online, she finds herself in grave danger as well. This novel is an evocative portrait of the lives and stakes faced by 40 million stateless Kurds, and it skillfully intertwines personal and political narratives.

It is a story of visible and invisible scarring, of violence and suffering transmitted across generations, of gender oppression and political exclusion and silencing, but also a moving and timely novel of hope and transformation, and of self-liberation. Daughters of Smoke and Fire is an important read for fans of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun, and it provides us with a voice that we have been missing.

It serves as a great equalizer of humanity and is a call to action to expose the oppression, persecution, and prejudices that are still very much alive and neglected in today's world of globalization.