Unrest

Heath’s debut novel masterfully incorporates family, romance, tension, and fully realized characters into a wonderfully written piece of historical fiction set in 1978 Tehran, during the lead-up to the Iranian Revolution. Seventeen-year-old Annette Patterson—aka Annie—arrives in Tehran with her mother, her 18-year-old sister, and 11-year-old brother. They’re joining their father, Colonel Jack Patterson, at his new military assignment of helping to procure equipment for the Air Force, but unlike where they’ve lived before—which has ranged from the U.S. to Greece—Iran is almost overwhelmingly exotic to them. The strange desert landscapes, the local customs, unique foods, and awesome landmarks threaten to overpower Annie’s senses. Sibling rivalry between Annie and her sister, Debbie, escalates when the family befriends 18-year-old Amir and both girls start to fall for him. As tension grows within the family, so too does it grow in the country: killings and demonstrations occur with increasing frequency. When a restaurant the family had patronized is bombed, Annie realizes “this happened two weeks to the night we’d celebrated Debbie’s birthday there.” The time period is accurately captured from the viewpoint of the Pattersons as well as from the Iranian characters’ perspectives. This is a superb accomplishment of character development, as well as an immersive journey through Tehran’s many landmarks. (BookLife)