Identical twins Ruzbeh and Behruz are at the center of Ali Hosseini's
debut novel in English--a story about love, redemption, and the courage
to survive in the face of calamity and loss. The novel begins in the
small town in southern Iran where the boys were raised and in their
summer home which is surrounded by a lemon grove. Their idyll is
shattered by personal and geopolitical events. Both boys fall in love
with Shireen, a childhood friend. Behruz goes to America to escape the
pain of competing for Shireen's affections. Ruzbeh fights in the
Iran/Iraq war and ends up alone and wandering the streets. When Behruz
returns to Iran to help his shell-shocked brother, he finds the country
devastated by revolution and war. His return sets off a string of events
that change all their lives.