My Father's Notebook

Deep within the Saffron Mountains is a cave where on a dark southerly wall can be found a 3,000 year old cuneiform inscription carved into the rock by the first king of Persia. It will inform deaf-mute Aga Akbar's own secret language that he will use to imprint his thoughts. His son Ishmael, exiled to Holland, will struggle to decipher the notebook and with the help of a third person omniscient narrator tell the story of Aga Akbar and the history of Iran. Meanwhile I'm reading the English translation of an Iranian author's Dutch work. And it's just a joy to read. It's a beautifully rendered, semi-autobiographical story that just carried me through to its satisfying end.