House of Sand and Fog
Book Review

House of Sand and Fog BOOK SYNOPSIS

House of Sand and Fog sets up the stark contrast between two families and two nationalities. Behrani is an exiled Iranian general who has escaped to America with his family. He was well respected and rich in Iran but in America cannot find anybody to hire him. He continually tries to keep up the appearance that his family is well off but is beginning to fail.

Kathy is a recovering alcoholic with a sordid past. She is living in a house passed down to her from her father and her husband has just left her. She is miserable and possibly suicidal.

The plot thickens for both parties when their lives are thrown together in an unfortunate twist of fate. Kathy's house is repossessed and Behrani gets it, unfairly, at an auction. Enter Les, a disturbed cop, who befriends and falls in love with Kathy. The story is a back and forth narration of both main characters struggle to regain some control of their former lives and selves.

QUEENIE D SAYS

I read this book because it was one of my first book club's first picks a while back. I have to be honest, I was not looking forward to it when the member unveiled the title. I had heard the movie was horrible, slow and boring, and so I assumed the book couldn't be any better. That said -

I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!

It was one of those books that I would wait excitedly all day just to get home from work and read! I LOVE it when this happens! Even the fact that my expectations were low so the reward was greater doesn't take away the bottom line - this book was fantastic! Now let me tell you why.

The characters, Behrani and Kathy, were written so well that I felt VERY powerful emotion while I was reading. Kathy was disgusting and made my skin crawl and Behrani was so pathetic that I wanted to cry over his misfortunes. The plot is compelling. You think "what's so great about two people fighting over a house?" but the house is just the vehicle for the telling of their separate life stories. I immediately sided with Behrani and hated Kathy! No matter what happened to her I couldn't help but feel like she was a delusional, immature brat! I won't spoil the ending but it was definitely a serious surprise.

I also want to note that House of Sand and Fog book produced, far and away, the BEST book club discussion I've ever had. Not surprisingly the rest of my group had very strong reactions to the characters as well. What was interesting is that half of us sided with Behrani while the other half sided with Kathy. I went to the meeting expecting everyone to hate Kathy as much as I did and was totally shocked when half my group felt just as strong of a hate for my Behrani!

It doesn't matter what type of a reader you are or what you prefer - this is a MUST read.

House of Sand and Fog Book DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Did you find Kathy disgusting? Why?
2. Do you feel sorry for Behrani or do you think he caused his own misery by not giving the house back?
3. Who truly had claim to the house - which side should have been the rightful owners?

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