Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick in damp and lovely County Mayo sitsthe small sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sistersIreland ... » 

Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick in damp and lovely County Mayo sitsthe small sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sistersIreland looks like a muchneeded safe haven. It has been seven years sinceMarjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters Bahar and Layla and shehopes that in Ballinacroagh a land of crazed sheep and dizzying roads theymight finally find a home.From the kitchen of an old pastry shop on Main Mall the sisters set aboutcreating a Persian oasis. Soon sensuous wafts of cardamom cinnamon andsaffron float through the streetsan exotic aroma that announces the opening ofthe Babylon Cafe and a shock to a town that generally subsists on boiledcabbage and Guinness served at the local tavern. And it is an affront to thesenses of Ballinacroaghs uncrowned king Thomas McGuire. After trying to buythe old pastry shop for years and failing Thomas is enraged to find itoccupiedand by foreigners no less.But the mysterious spicy fragrances work their magic on the townsfolk andsoon business is booming. Marjan is thrilled with the demand for her redlentil soup abgusht stew and rosewater baklavaand with the transformation inher sisters. Young Layla finds first love and even tense haunted Bahar seemsto be less nervous.And in the standupcomedianturnedpriest Father Fergal Mahoney the gentlelonely widow Estelle Delmonico and the headstrong hairdresser Fiona Athey thesisters find a merry band of supporters against the closeminded opposition ofless welcoming villagers stuck in their ways. But the idyll is soon broken whenthe past rushes back to threaten the Amnipours once more and the livestheyleft behind in revolutionera Iran bleed into the present.Infused with the textures and scents trials and triumph s of two distinctcultures Pomegranate Soup is an infectious novel of magical realism. Thisrichly detailed story highlighted with delicious recipes «