Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran

Pomegranate Soup: A Novel
- book #3 in the Irish Book Challenge - was a delightful read for a snow day in February. Appropriately described on the cover as reminiscent of Chocolat and Under the Tuscan Sun, the book tells the story of the Aminpour sisters, who have fled Iran and opened the Babylon Cafe in Ballinacroagh Ireland. Each chapter of the novel begins with a recipe that figures into the plot of the chapter somehow. At first I thought the book was going to be a fluffed up romance, but the emotional baggage that the sisters have brought along with them makes the book more complex, weaving in the history of the Iranian Revolution. I am tempted to try a recipe or two - especially fessenjoon - a chicken, walnut, pomegranate dish. Also, one of the characters climbs Croagh Patrick in the novel, as did the author, who is married to Irish American.