Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Pan Macmillan)
This was my last read from the Waterstones Prize shortlist and sadly it wasn't a case that I'd left the best until last. In fact for quite some time I wasn't sure that I'd even get to the end of the book - and I rarely mark a book DNF (did not finish).
Cyrus Shams is lost.
Ever since his mother’s plane was senselessly shot down over the Persian Gulf when he was just a baby, Cyrus has been grappling with her death. Now, newly sober, he is set to learn the truth of her life.
When an encounter with a dying artist leads Cyrus towards the mysteries of his past - an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as an Angel of Death, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter – he finds himself once again caught up in the story of his mother, who may not have been who or what she seemed. As Cyrus searches for meaning in the scattered clues of his life, a final revelation transforms everything he thought he knew.
The premise of this one was good - how does one respond when a parent has become a martyr? It was made all the more interesting as Cyrus's dad then moved them to the country responsible for his mother's death.
However for much of the book I found the descriptions of drinking and drug taking to be overwhelming and it was impossible for me to connect with the characters at all.
Once the action moved to New York I did become more enthralled and the preconceived ideas I'd made from the blurb were challenged, and then the next ideas as to where the plot was going were also proved wrong and I found myself breathlessly turning the page to see how the story was going to resolve.
This book isn't going to be for everyone, and in a way made a nice complementary read to one of my Women In Translation books, but I am glad I did stick with it.
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