THE SAFFRON KITCHEN

" When I humiliated my father, he humiliated me. It made me strong," Maryam tells her daughter in Crowther's first novel. The author and her daughter, who narrates half of this work, share an Iranian-British heritage. Together author and narrators lead listeners into a world difficult for a child to understand. Using dual narrators works well. Mehr Mansuri adopts a deep, flat tone for Maryam, who accepts whatever must happen next. In Ariana Fraval's voice we hear the excitement, fear, and confusion of a young person. This is a woman's story of living in a man's world--of breasts bound to keep a child young, of living with second and third wives, of pregnancy, and of violation. These might be strange customs from half-a-world away, but the voices are strangely familiar. R.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 07]