Roya

"Put your past in a casket, and its ghost will show up at your door. Burn it on a pyre, and its ashes will get in your eyes. But, if you entertain them from time-to-time, you realize they are no longer anything but the residual imaginings of the human mind." Roya is a coming-of-age novel telling the story of a 22-year-old Iranian-American woman confronting the shadows of her past in search of lion-hearted strength. Pressured to trade her dream of becoming a composer for medical school, she is at odds with her immigrant parents. A heartbreak over her first love has left her further feeling like an expat in her own body. Upon her grandmother's request, she embarks on a reluctant journey to Iran. There, she finds a country with its own torn identity --one caught between tradition and modernity. A quiet, yet pressing craving for freedom exists mirroring Roya's own inner battle. With the help of some unlikely friends, she finds truth in the unraveling of family secrets and a new dawn for dreams.