FEATURED EDITORIAL REVIEWS

"Kruse’s writing is generally superb, but a few key scenes and passages are transcendent, as when Samira teaches her children 'that every person has the power to dye their own world with whatever colors they choose.' ... Butterfly Stitching is an exquisitely penned, richly authentic novel about the power of beauty to cut through the deepest darkness."

- Excerpts from Chicago Book Review. For full review, click here.

 

"Readers should be moved by the raw and painful emotions on display here and the relationship at the heart of the story—between mother and daughter—as it touches on such topics as arranged marriages, war, revolution, refugees, and immigration. ... In the world created in these pages, there is hope and even kindness among the despair.”

- Excerpts from BookList, the review journal of the American Library Association. For full review, click here.

 

"A land hidden from view for decades is revealed in this searing novel about the joys and struggles of Iranian mother and daughter throughout a turbulent period of history. Played against the tapestry of Persian culture, we are given a window into a world that has been veiled to outsiders, and suppressed within Iran itself. This book will leave you yearning for a sequel, a triumphant return to a land which we hope will soon be reemerging onto the global stage."

Lyric Hughes Hale - Commentator, Yale Books Blog.

 

"In her debut novel, Shermin Kruse juxtaposes quotidian occurrences—schoolwork, groceries, sibling quarrels—with wartime imagery to stunningly poignant effect. Set in Iran during two stirring historical periods, Butterfly Stitching fulfills the promise of its title, as it weaves together the inspiring and often heartbreaking narratives of Sahar and Samira, of mother and daughter both navigating an oppressive regime. The emotional strength of Kruse’s storytelling is tethered to a keen specificity, allowing us to be transported easily to a world which the West has long struggled to understand. This moving book will not only captivate readers of all stripes, but also contribute perspective and nuance to a global dialogue about life after revolution."

Yanan Wang - Editor, Yale Daily News.

 

"Butterfly Stitching is an ambitious project, capturing the soul and voice of an entire people. – and Shermin Kruse succeeds, astoundingly well."

Excerpts of five star review of LA Examiner by Miceala Shocklee. For full review, click here.

 

"Shermin does an amazing job of showcasing the gritty strength and pride that Iranian women have. She shares an image of these women, who are often stereotyped, from quite a different perspective than what many would guess. She shares the intelligence, the drive and the love that Iranian women endure. This is truly the moving aspect of the text."

Excerpts of the review by HalfStack Magazine. For full review and interview with the author, click here.

 

"Shermin Kruse has written a mesmerizing book, which allows you to fall into a particular time of history, and very much like a shadow, follow two women and lose yourself in their journey."

Camelia Entekhabifard - Contributor to New York Times, Associated Press and Reuters; and Author of Camelia: Save Yourself by Telling the Truth.

 

"Shermin Kruse's Butterfly Stitching is the gorgeous, intricately woven narrative of two heart-strong women who show us the beauty of ritual and custom as they clash with crisis and oppression in an old-world order. It is a rich, true-love tapestry."

Theresa Schwegel, Edgar Award winning author of The Good Boy.

 

"Butterfly Stitching is a simply stunning novel and a beautifully written, in depth account of what it means to be a woman growing up and maturing in Iran. Touching, profound and at times shocking, you cannot fail to be moved by Butterfly Stitching and I cannot recommend it highly enough – the stories of Sahar and Samira will stay with me for a long time to come."

Karen Perkins - Bestselling author of Thores-Cross & The Valkyrie Series.

 

"Startling and innovative, Butterfly Stitching could be called Love in the Time of Morality Police. In an Iran few in the West have seen, Kruse's deft narrative is two women's stories of love and lost innocence. The reader, too loses innocence as we better understand the conflicting pulls of love and obligation, faith and individuality. Terrifying from the first. Compelling to the last."

Robert Chazz Chute - Author of This Plague of Days.

 

“This beautiful tale creates a tapestry of one woman’s childhood in Iran with all the delicacy of her grandmother’s butterfly stitching. We meet Sahar, whose school days in Iran are interrupted by air raids and whose family is fragmented after the fall of the Shah. We follow their displacement across continents, and unravel memories that are submerged in time and sorrow. Shermin Kruse’s triumphant tale depicts Sahar and her family’s remarkable- and various- lives, and paints a path that leads to wisdom, and outlives defeat.”
Lara Bozabalian – Author of The Cartographer’s Skin.

 

 

 

 

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