Guest Post: Sweet Tooth by Marion Grace Woolley (Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran)

Opening sentences: "Those days are buried beneath the mists of time. A lake of memory, distorted by ripples of remembrance and youthful uncertainty."

From this strong beginning, Marion Grace Woolley's Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran takes us into a world very far removed from the one most of us know. In an interview, Woolley noted that her novel, set in Iran along the Caspian Sea, can be thought of as a kind of prequel to The Phantom of the Opera. Using hints from the original story, she imagines the Phantom's youth, when he was a member of a traveling circus that performed for the Shah of Iran.

Here's the publisher's summary:

It begins with a rumour, an exciting whisper. Anything to break the tedium of the harem for the Shah’s eldest daughter. People speak of a man with a face so vile it would make a hangman faint, but a voice as sweet as an angel’s kiss. A master of illusion and stealth. A masked performer, known only as Vachon. For once, the truth will outshine the tales.

On her eleventh birthday, Afsar’s uncle tries to molest her, and her father, the Shah, gifts her a circus. With the circus comes a man who will change everything. . . . Marion Grace Woolley takes us on forbidden adventures through a time that has been written out of history books.

Sounds like a fascinating read, and it's made all the better because Woolley pays attention to the details, including the food and drink that would have been found at the shah's palace.

I'm pleased to host Marion Grace Woolley today at Beth Fish Reads. I'm extra happy because Marion tells us about some wonderful Middle East desserts. Her characters loved these treats, and so will you.

Sweet Tooth

Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran is laden with references to sweet, seductive treats. At one point, Afsar, the main character, receives a visit from her father's chief of spies, the Darougheh of Mazandaran:

At first we had little to say to one another: a girl of almost thirteen and a man more than thrice her age. The aromatic spices in the dish slowly began to loosen our tongues, and the cardamom toffee Şelale produced for dessert sweetened his words.

There is such a sensual link between food and thought. Hot, spicy dishes to rouse our temper, wine to loosen our tongues, and sugar to sweeten our hearts.

I'd like to share three of the main desserts mentioned in the book. They are not the easiest to prepare, but if you don't have the time or the ingredients you can usually find them at your local Asian or Middle Eastern store.

Halva is found throughout much of the world, and its name simply means "sweet." When I have bought it in the UK, it has usually been made with tahini, a paste formed from crushed sesame seeds. It comes as a solid block, often with pistachios or almonds on top, and has the strange consistency of sand with none of the grit. This is also how it most commonly appears in Iran, the setting for the book. In Mazandaran they are known for a particular type of Halva called Khoshk halva, sweetened with honey. There is a simple recipe here, but it's also worth watching this video on YouTube as they say that the temperature needs to be higher (260°F rather than 240°F).

Baklava (or baghlava) is a sweet made from fine filo pastry and dripping with honey. Although widely eaten throughout the Middle East, the desert is commonly thought to be of Turkish origin, a favourite treat for the Sultan dining at the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. There is a traditional Iranian recipe online here, and a helpful YouTube video here.

When my friend got married a couple of years ago in Edinburgh, I bought a large plate of baghlava from the Turkish cafe on London Road. If it's still there, they do make exceedingly fine sweets.

Honeyed dates: Dried fruits were a common treat for the people of 1850s Iran. Dried dates are easy to find in many shops, sticky with sweet syrup. However, I found this unusual recipe online for Honey-Fried Salted Stuffed Dates said to date (ho ho) back to the 5th-century Roman Empire! If you're truly looking for a taste of history, this would be a great place to start.

To wash it down, you might try a cup of warm milk, heated in a saucepan with a teaspoon or two of honey and a dash of ginger, cardamom, and nutmeg.

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Thanks so much, Marion, for this informative (and mouth-watering) post. It takes me back to my childhood because I grew up eating all three of these treats. My home town has a large Lebanese population, and we were lucky enough to have specialty stores that sold homemade versions of these fabulous desserts.

Now I can't wait to read Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran.

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Review: Fables 15: Rose Red by Bill Willingham

It's my understanding that the long-running Fables series, by Bill Willingham and his team of artists, is coming to an end this spring with two final books: number 21 in April and number 22 in June. I've loved most of the main story arcs, and I'll be sad to say good-bye to my friends in Fabletown.

Of course, there are several spin-off books and series. I've already read the Jack of Fables books, but I still have the Cinderella books, a Bigby book, and the Fairest series to look forward to.

The title of volume 15 is Red Rose, and the collected issues focus on two main story lines plus a number of extras. As always, I'll avoid spoilers for this volume, but I can't help but reveal what's happened earlier in the series.

Rose Red and Snow White: The first part of the book includes tales of Rose and Snow's childhood and how they ended up on separate paths. We also learn the true story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (hint: those dwarves weren't really all that nice) and how she met her prince. I really enjoyed this story arc and especially loved the panels that showed the two as little girls (see scan).

Frau Totenkinder / Bellfower: The second part of the book focuses on Totenkinder, now transformed and calling herself Bellflower. This section moves at a swift pace, as the powerful witch tries her hand at both defeating Mister Dark and finding a new life. Lots of action and unexpected twists; you'll have to read the book to see if she succeeded in either quest.

Extras: The final part of volume 15 consists of some short pieces featuring Thumbelina, the Three Blind Mice, and Pinocchio. Although the Pinocchio story ended on an intriguing note, I didn't love this part of the book.

The Art: The Rose Red chapters were penciled by Mark Buckingham and Inked by Steve Leialoha and others. The colors are vibrant and the facial expressions and body postures are lifelike and convey so much more than just the words do. Buckingham and Leialoha were responsible for much of the Totenkinder chapters, and the details and darkness of those panels enhance the story perfectly.

I was less taken by the art in the short stories: the color range in the Thumbelina panels is primarily limited to greens and browns, and I found the lack of detail in the drawings to be disconcerting after the richness of the earlier stories. The art for the Mice adventure has a smudgey appearance, which felt like a good fit.

Recommendation: Rose Red renewed my interest in the Fables series, which was waning after the Jack books and the Great Crossover volume. The endings of the stories included in volume 15 promise changes--some that will have broad repercussions on all the Fables and some that will affect just a few characters on a more personal level. I rate Rose Red as one of my favorite issues.

Published by DC Comics / Vertigo, 2011
ISBN-13: 9781401230005
Source: Bought (see review policy)
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)

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Wordless Wednesday 327

Ice, 2015

Click image to enlarge. For more Wordless Wednesday, click here.

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Today's Read: Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

What if global warming can't be reversed? In the future world, water will be the prized commodity, and the haves will do whatever is necessary to keep it from the have-nots. For Lynn, daily survival depends on only four things: her, her gun, her mother, and their pond.

Lynn was nine the first time she killed to defend the pond, the sweet smell of water luring the man to be picked off like the barn swallows that dared to swoop in for a drink. Mother had killed the people who came too close to their pond before, but over the next seven years they fell by Lynn's gun as well, their existence easily wiped out first by a bullet, then by the coyotes before the sun could rise. Death and gunpowder were scents from her childhood, but today the fall breeze brought something less familiar to her rooftop perch, and her nose wrinkled.

—Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis (HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books, 2013, p. 1)

Quick Facts

• Setting: the future; in a rural area
• Circumstances: Lynn and her mother know that their lives depend on defending the pond and preserving food for the approaching winter. When Lynn's bleak but workable life is shattered, something will have to change. She must weigh everything she knows to be true against her gut instincts; if she makes the wrong choice, she'll be dead.
• Characters: Lynn and her mother; their neighbor, Stebbs; outsiders
• Genre & audience: dystopian; YA with adult cross-over
• The new and different: Unlike other young adult dystopian novels, Not a Drop to Drink has a strong feel of realism. There is no Big Brother government breathing down Lynn's neck, no games or mazes, no one living the life of luxury just around the bend. This world is simply about the hard business of individual survival. The book is more along the lines of adult dystopians—like The Road, for example—than the usual teen fare.
• The same old: (warning, possible spoiler→) What's a teen dystopian without a little romance; it's not totally insta-love, but almost. Fortunately, this does not take away from the overall mood of the story.
• Miscellaneous: I'm not sure McGinnis is planning a long series, but the second book, In a Handful of Dust, was published a few months ago. The new installment takes place about decade after Not a Drop to Drink ends, and I hope to read it soon.
• The author: McGinnis was inspired to write the novel after watching a documentary on what the future could be like if we truly start to run out of fresh water. You can listen to (or read) an NPR story in which McGinnis talks about her book.
• Recommendations: I'm still reading, but I'm in agreement with almost everyone who has reviewed this book: Not a Drop to Drink is well written, bleak, realistic, and gritty (had to use the word, sorry). Despite the target audience, Mindy McGinnis has given us a mature story about an all-too-possible future. Now excuse me while I start digging a well and look for a shotgun.

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Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: The Midwinter Edition

Stacked-Up Book Thoughts are my random notes about books I've read, movies I've watched, books I'm looking forward to, and events I hope to get to.

Getting Organized

I'm writing this while watching the Super Bowl. I'm sipping some wine and am totally exhausted because I spent the entire weekend going through all my books: I sorted them, reshelved them, and culled them. I now have bags of books ready to go to charity and many fewer books on the floor.

Now, let me quickly say that the books I'm giving away are not all review copies. I've finally gotten to the point at which I accept that I'm never going to look through my old craft books, college textbooks, or yellowing paperback mysteries again. By getting rid of them (and ARCs I'm clearly never going to read), I found that I had room for most of the books I want in my permanent library plus current(ish) review books.

Besides just feeling good about lighting the load, I love that I took the time to group my books into useful categories, such as books I want to read now, books I want to read someday, books I've read and want to keep, and books I want to write about even if I don't get to read them all the way through. It was also fun to rediscover books I had been so excited to get. Can't wait to dig in.

Next up is organizing my collection of eBooks and eGalleys. I'm in fairly good shape with them, thanks to Calibre, but I need to make some realistic decisions about what I'm really going to read or write about.

What We're Watching

Besides a few movies I've gotten for review purposes, we're watching a only a handful of current shows, including Black Sails on STZ, Shameless on SHO, and Downton Abby on PBS. We're also slowly catching up with Blue Bloods and Justified on streaming. We would be watching Longmire but the newer seasons are not streaming for free yet (what's up with that?).

Black Sails is bit complicated, but we like the actors and the story, which is a kind of prequel to Treasure Island. Plus it's pirates! Shameless is a U.S. remake of a British show about a lower-income family trying to stay afloat the best they can, which isn't always by staying on the right side of the law.

Books at the Top of My Stack
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I'm currently listening to The Mime Order and reading Ongoingness and Fables: Rose Red (vol. 15). Two books at the top of my February list are The Coach's Wife and Members Only. For the Blogger's Recommend newsletter, my pick of the month was A Matter of Breeding. Look for reviews of all these in the weeks to come.

The Mime Order is the second in an alternate history/fantasy series that has great characters, good action, and a fresh premise. The Coach's Wife promises to be a multilayered novel about sports, love, and teaching. It takes place in Indiana. The three nonfiction picks provide fascinating looks into dog breeding, exclusive clubs and organizations, and journaling. Everything is high on my recommend list.

What are you reading or watching? Are your books organized?

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