This 1991 novel by Gina B. Nahai is the story of the Jews in Iran, and one character in particular named Peacock. Ms. Nahai did a lot of research and it rings with both historical accuracy and as well as a bit of magic realism. The story begins more than two hundred years ago when Iran was called Persia. There are harems and ghettos and child marriage. There is vast wealth and grinding poverty. People are locked into rigid social patterns that they cannot escape. Jews are treated as outcasts but yet sometimes intermarry. Cruelty is everywhere.

Ms. Nahai creates her characters well; each is an individual and yet is representative of a culture and a way of life that has existed for centuries and has remained largely unexplored in western literature. We meet Esther the soothsayer and her descendents, visit marriage beds and feel the experience of a culture where a man is allowed four legal wives and hundreds of temporary wives. We see love and passion and feel great sadness.

I found it difficult to read this book at times because of the constant cruelties. There was something to make me wince on almost every page. Even the wealthy were not spared. It made me wonder if perhaps the author went too far in her fervor to shock the reader. And yet, I couldn't put it down. After a while I got hardened and focused on the rich and interesting characters. And slowly but surely I began to understand the forces shaping the Iran that has emerged today.

Yes. I do recommend this book. But it certainly isn't for the squeamish.

As a 1st generation American, I have never been to Iran. When I picked up "Cry of the Peacock," all of a sudden, a whole world opened to me!

Nahai's vivid imagery and use of magical realism entrance readers into the the scent, sound, sight, and feel of life in Iran through the many kings, the Constitutional Revolution, the reign of the Pahlavis and the present government.

I learned so much of my country's history and culture. I now know why we are "a culture of sorrow" and why we have so much to offer the world.

A must-read to anyone from Iran or anyone who wants to understand the beauty of the Middle East.

Nahai's writing echoes Isabel Allende, Toni Morrison, and Amy Tan. It was a pleasure to read this book.

The book "Cry of the Peacock" is a wonderful book by Gina Barkhodar Nahai, It is written in such a way that it looks realistic. Great.