GREAT ADDITION TO GROWING LIBRARY OF IMMIGRANT LITERATURE

Jasmin Darznik accomplishes a list wonderful things in her memoir THE GOOD DAUGHTER. First, she writes a book that will be welcomed into the annals of American immigrant literature. Second, she gives an account of the quotidian life in Iran prior to the revolution of 1977, a lifestlye not yet over exposed. Third, she tells of the oppression and abuse of women in middle class Persian society. Fourth, she shows just how damn hard it is to be an immigrant in America, not sparing the class anxiety of educated immigrants. Lastly, she reveals the tension in the mother-only-daughter-child relationship. All this she accomplishes in a rather orderly, lawyerly way (she was educated as a lawyer), sometimes sparing emotions that could have deepen the impact of the story and made it even better.  What I particulaly enjoyed reading about were the details of Persian life: the ingredients and luscious aromas of the food, the superstitions–such as burning wild rue seeds to ward off evil–and the closeness of the women folk.