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W. W. NORTON, 1999
(available in paperback from Vintage, 2000)
IN THIS SUSPENSEFUL NOVEL, Andre Dubus III examines the lives of an unlikely combination of characters who become dangerously entangled in the search for emotional and financial stability in their pursuit of the American dream.
Massoud Amir Behrani, a former officer in the Iranian air force who fled to the United States after the overthrow of the Shah, supports his family through minimum-wage jobs, deceiving them about the true nature of his work. Desperate to keep up appearances, Behrani invests all the money he has in the purchase of a home that was seized for nonpayment of taxes and sold at a government auction, planning to multiply his investment. His plans go awry when it is discovered that the seizure of the home and the eviction of its owner, Kathy Nicolo, resulted from an administrative error.
Nicolo, a recovering alcoholic now living out of her car, protests the sale and becomes increasingly desperate to reclaim her home, which offers the only stability in her life. Lester Burdon, the sheriff who evicted her, becomes romantically involved with Nicolo and is determined to help her seek justice. As the legal quarrel over the house escalates, fueled by mistrust and fragile emotions, the characters are unable to resolve the dispute and avoid the tragedy that ultimately befalls them.
Behrani’s wife, Nadi, fills their home with aromas of Persian food and trays of pistachios, sweets, fruit, and tea. Andre Dubus shared with us how food helped him set the scenes in House of Sand and Fog.
As a fiction writer, I’ve come to rely upon the five senses to anchor the reader, and me, in a scene; if you smell freshly cut grass and see leafed-out maples and hear children laughing and splashing in water, then you are probably firmly rooted in a summer somewhere in the Western world. In this way, I found it necessary to describe the food of my Persian characters in my novel, House of Sand and Fog. Frankly, it was easier for me to inhabit the role of Colonel Behrani if I could also imagine smelling and tasting what he would: black tea sipped through a sugar cube, saffron and butter over rice and stewed tomatoes, sour yogurt with sweet cucumber.
The senses of smell and taste yield associations, and often while writing, I found myself remembering all the wonderful Persian meals I’d shared with my Iranian friends over the years, sitting on the floor upon a sofreh. This sense memory helped me forget the private boundaries of my own life and more readily enter theirs, for I believe food and stories come from the same place—a curious and hungry part of us all that needs our spirits and bodies to be fed.
Dubus’s good friend Kourosh Zomorodian is Iranian and introduced Dubus to the Persian culture he depicts in House of Sand and Fog. “I pretty much immersed myself in the culture, eating the food, listening to the music,” says Dubus, who asked Zomorodian to contribute a Persian recipe to The Book Club Cookbook. Zomorodian gave us this delicious recipe for khorest bademjan, an eggplant-and-tomato stew he has prepared for Dubus on many occasions.
In House of Sand and Fog, Nadi prepares khorest bademjan for a dinner party in honor of their daughter, their new son-in-law, and his family. When Behrani asks Nadi to prepare the menu for the party, it becomes clear that preserving their cultural identity and customs in their new country is vital. Behrani thinks: “My wife’s face became so lighted with happiness, at the modest fashion in which our lives appear to be returning to the old ways.”
“Most Iranian dishes include rice, plain or mixed, for a main dish, sometimes served with a stew, such as khorest bademjan. Meals are served with yogurt as a garnish, along with radishes and fresh greens such as green onions, basil, parsley, or sliced cucumber. Bread always accompanies the meal,” says Zomorodian.
2 pounds small eggplants (Italian or Japanese) Vegetable oil for frying 2 pounds stew beef, cut in 1-inch cubes 3 medium onions, halved lengthwise and sliced ½ teaspoon ground turmeric |
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 4 teaspoons tomato paste |
Peel the eggplants and cut lengthwise into ½-inch-thick slices. Salt the slices on both sides, place on a platter or paper towels, and let sit for 20 minutes.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven or deep skillet. Add the beef and onions and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the meat loses its pink color and the onions soften. Add the turmeric, cinnamon, and 2 cups of water to the meat. Season with salt and pepper, and cook uncovered over medium heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. At the end of this time there should be about 1 cup of liquid remaining; add more water if needed to make a cup. Stir in the sugar, lime juice, and tomato paste.
While the meat is cooking, rinse the eggplant slices under cold running water to remove salt. Pat dry with paper towels. Cover the bottom of a large skillet with ¼ inch of oil and place over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the eggplant in batches, turning once, until golden on both sides. Drain well on paper towels.
Lay the eggplant slices over the meat, cover, and cook over low heat for an additional 30 minutes. Serve over hot Persian rice, rice pilaf, or noodles.
Yield: 6 servings
NOVEL THOUGHTS
Andre Dubus III’s visit to the Thursday Evening Book Group at the Haverhill Public Library in Massachusetts was a crowning moment in the group’s history. Sue Bonenfant, group facilitator, invited Dubus to join the group for its discussion of House of Sand and Fog in celebration of the Thursday Evening Book Group’s third anniversary. The club’s response to Dubus was overwhelming. Dubus “treated our group as though we were the first people who’d ever discussed House of Sand and Fog,” recalls Kathleen Fitts. Betsey Copeland characterized the gathering as “warm, funny, interesting, and thought-provoking,” while Deborah Dyer called the meeting “something for me to tell my children and grandchildren about.”
The group peppered Dubus with questions about his writing process, although Dubus appeared to want feedback on his book as much as he wanted to speak, according to Bonenfant. “We asked him about the choices he made in writing the book,” Bonenfant says, “and our questions made him think about these choices, and look at his work through the reader’s eyes.”
Bonenfant had chosen House of Sand and Fog for her group because she was curious about the work of this author, who grew up in Haverhill and now lives in nearby Newburyport. She found the book dark and compelling. “The plot just rolls out of control, all because of one seemingly benign decision,” says Bonenfant. “I put this book on our reading list so I could talk to someone about the decisions the main characters made.”
Members were equally intrigued with Dubus’s characters. “The best thing about this book was the way Dubus made the characters come alive on the page,” says Fitts. “I found the main characters likable and irritating at the same time. In other words, they seemed very human.”
More Food for Thought
When Andre Dubus came to speak to their group about House of Sand and Fog, the Thursday Evening Book Group at the Haverhill Public Library welcomed him with Iranian food, music, and decorations. They served Persian fruit salad, mastvakhiar (yogurt-cucumber dip), and hummus. A sign welcomed Dubus in Persian (“Salomadti”), while a recording of classical Iranian music played in the background. “Andre seemed very impressed with the Persian salad,” says Bonenfant, “and with all the effort we took to create the mood for the meeting.”
teaspoon ground cinnamon