Knowing she could never be happy in Iran, Tamila Soroush took her mother's advice to "Go and wake up your luck" and joined her sister in the United States, where amazing freedoms awaited her. Now, after a spur-of-the-moment exchange of "I do's" with her true love, Ike Hanson, Tami is eager to start her new life. But not everyone is pleased with their marriage, and Tami's happily-ever-after is no sure thing. As tensions escalate, Tami's sense of self-worth takes a beating, especially when her earlier attempts to find a husband on a visitor's visa return to haunt her. And there are her parents, stuck behind in a country that betrayed them.
How can she be happy when they are not? Tami is beginning to understand that freedom is not for the faint of heart. With so much stacked against her, and her immigration interview looming, she wonders whether she's got the right stuff when it comes to love, American-style. Maybe her luck is running out...or maybe she'll step up to the plate and claim her American dream.
Meg Clark believes in the "hokey pokey" theory of life, which demands that you put your whole self in; she even teaches it to her kindergarten students. But after the love of her life betrays her, and her father takes a flying leap off the pedestal she set him on, Meg has a hard time putting this theory into practice. What's the point of opening yourself up if your heart comes back a little more broken each time? Now only one man receives Meg's full devotion: her nine-year-old son, Henry. She's happy with her single-mom life. She and Henry are taking on the world in their own lively way, and it's enough. Still, sometimes love finds you, whether you're ready or not. Love comes to Meg in the form of Ahmed Bourhani, an exotically handsome Iranian-American who befriends her and Henry over a game of chess in a coffee shop. Meg knows that second chances require a leap of faith, and the result is more often a complicated mixed bag than a neatly packaged happily-ever-after. Sometimes in order to heal you have to hurt, but most of all you have to live your life and put your whole self in. . . . "A promising author." - Booklist
Tamila Soroush wanted it all. But in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dreams are a dangerous thing for a girl. Tami abandons them...until her twenty-seventh birthday, when her parents give her a one-way ticket to America, hoping she will "go and wake up her luck." If they have their way, Tami will never return to Iran...which means she has three months to find a husband in America. Three months before she's sent back for good. From her first Victoria's Secret bra to her first ride on a motor scooter to her first country line-dance, Tami drinks in the freedom of an American girl. Inspired to pursue her passion for photography, she even captures her adventures on film. But looming over her is the fact that she must concede to an arranged marriage before her visa expires. To complicate matters, her friendship with Ike, a young American man, has grown stronger. And it is becoming harder for Tami to ignore the forbidden feelings she has for him. It's in her English as a second language class that Tami finds a support system. With the encouragement of headstrong Eva, loyal Nadia, and Agata and Josef, who are carving out a love story of their own, perhaps Tami can keep dreaming - and find a way to stay in America. "A gorgeously authentic voice. Fitzgerald's narrative is infused with wit, warmth and compassion. Of you like cross-cultural books, you won't want to put this down." - Kavita Daswani, author of Salaam, Paris "In this winning debut, Fitzgerald has crafted the powerful story of one woman's courage to look beyond the life that she has been given - a poignant and uplifting novel full of charm, wit and grace." - Beth Kendrick, author of Nearlyweds
