The Heart's Desire

Rachlin (Veils) tries not to judge anyone in this story of an American woman married to an Iranian man--tact that may be admirable in life but that makes for a somewhat bland novel. Artist Jennifer and professor Karim leave their comfortable home in Athens, Ohio, with their six-year-old son, Darius, to visit Karim's family shortly after the end of the Iran-Iraq war. An accomplished Farsi speaker, Jennifer remains intrigued by Teheran on her second visit but finds it much changed, with an anti-Americanism that makes her uncomfortable. At the same time, Karim's recollections of growing anti-Iranian feeling in the United States are weighing on him. Jennifer's and Karim's relationship has been strained of late anyway, as after 12 years together, he seems to be rediscovering his ethnicity. While in Iran he gets word that his department head back home has given away one of his courses, and he begins to toy with the idea of remaining in Iran. Trouble erupts when Karim leaves on a short trip with his uncle and Karim's mother kidnaps Darius in order to enroll him in religious school. One can learn a lot from this novel, but while these observations are interesting, many (particularly on Jennifer's part) have the feel of pedagogical exposition rather than narrative necessity. (Nov.)