Asayesh has written a soul-searching and engrossing book. It is part like a diary, part like a travel book. In seeking to balance her inner and outer lives her return to Iran after many years becomes a journey both spiritual and temporal.

Especially touching are her descriptions, both past and present, of her favorite aunts, Khaleh Farrah and Khaleh Mina. Along with other small vignettes featuring people she meets in the street, and old time acquaintances and relatives, we get an itimate glance into the lives of everyday people of Iran.

A lovely book that promises more from this talented and sensitive author. It would be interesting to learn about her life as her children grow. As second generation Americans of part Iranian heritage, it would be interesting to see how they combine the lessons their mother is trying to impart to them. And the impact of life in the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural America upon them.

Although I have only lived in Iran for a very short time, I try to stay true to my roots. Most of my visits to Iran were at a young age and it was for vacation, I still have very fond memories of Iran and the warmth of its culture. The author of this book did an excellent job portraying the differences in each culture, and delicately letting her feelings cry out through her words. Although I was born in England, and have parents of different religions a Muslim father and an Armenian mother (Christian Orthodox) I have always been surrounded by my Iranian culture at home. Not through religion, but through the values of my culture. What most people seem to think about Iran is that it is an Arabic country and we are all followers of the HEZBOLLAH regime. My culture is more than just religion and I thank Gelareh Asayesh for portraying that. As I look back at my life I can relate to the authors experiences and appreciate the way she shared her emotions. Living in Canada most of my life now, I have in a way "Canadianized", this book made me look at the ways I am different from a 23 year old in Iran. I found some of her statements inaccurate in my opinion, but that could be from me not experiencing living in Iran enough or just differences in point of views.

Saffron Sky is a book about the immigrant experience. It is a profound and touching examination of the author's struggle to gain acceptance in her new home, and at the same time stay true to her heritage. The book also paints an accurate picture of the huge gap between the East and the West, and the at times impossible task of reconciling the two. The author has managed to examine the U.S. and the Iranian cultures, with respect for both and without offending either. The book also represents a personal and candid examination of issues that are sometimes painful to face, but that are central to an understanding of the sense of malaise that afflicts many immigrants. The prose is very descriptive and at time poetic. The author has a rich memory full of details and conveys those details to the reader with simple but lyrical language.

As an immigrant, I not only enjoyed the book very much, but I also found it an invitation for me to examine my own immigrant experience and thoughts and feelings that I had suppressed for many years. I highly recommend the book, and especially to immigrants and those who have loved ones who are immigrants to the U.S.