Literature

Our longtime book reviewer makes some page-turning suggestions for book lovers of all sorts -- and for those who might be shopping for book lovers.

"[Hamid] reminds us yet again that fiction sometimes provides the most direct path to truth." -- BookPage (starred review)

"[Hamid] reminds us yet again that fiction sometimes provides the most direct path to truth." -- BookPage (starred review)

The celebrated historical novelist died last week at age 70.

Mei, a teenage girl in 1960s China, becomes Mao Zedong's protégée as well as his lover -- and also a heroine of the Cultural Revolution -- in this captivating historical novel.

"An affecting and informative memoir about the lessons we can glean from life as well as death." -- Library Journal

"Recommended to fans of Paula McLean's 'The Paris Wife' and anyone who enjoyed Hemingway's 'A Moveable Feast.'" -- Booklist

"Nafisi...has a talent for combining the academic and the everyday, the theoretical and the personal, and thanks to her deliberate and confident voice, the lessons [in this book] will stick with us, too." -- The New York Times Book Review

"[Hamid] reminds us yet again that fiction sometimes provides the most direct path to truth." -- BookPage (starred review)

Mei, a teenage girl in 1960s China, becomes Mao Zedong's protégée as well as his lover -- and also a heroine of the Cultural Revolution -- in this captivating new novel.