So I'm doing the Read around the World challenge, a book set in each county, and I could tell you all sorts of dishonest but high-minded reasons about why I chose this book for Iran, but the truth is I just adore greengage plums and always have done. They're the only plums that I like, and so when I saw this title I knew I had to read it. Well. Greengages have yet to steer me wrong and they didn't here either. This book is fantastic. I had no idea what it was about when I started reading, but it's Iranian magical realism, occurring as religious fundamentalists take over the country, and to give you an idea of how it gets: there are three children in a family. One is arrested and killed by said fundamentalists. One dies in a fire and narrates the book as a ghost that everyone (including the family) can touch and see, and the third turns into a fish. It is a very beautiful book - the language is just gorgeous - but it is a bit of a downer, especially at the end. That being said, it's so beautifully written that I'm going to have to get my own copy and gorge myself on greengages while reading, because this is something I will absolutely be coming back to in the future.