Zabelle - by Nancy Kricorian (Paperback)

About the Book

An exuberant and magical tale of an Armenian woman that encompasses her vivid life experiences through comic interactions and battles that she wages in her new country--with a domineering mother in-law, a tradition-bound husband, Americanized children, and the man she secretly loves.

Book Synopsis

Zabelle begins in a suburb of Boston with the quiet death of Zabelle Chahasbanian, an elderly widow and grandmother whose history remains vastly unknown to her family. But as the story shifts back in time to Zabelle's childhood in the waning days of Ottoman Turkey, where she survives the 1915 Armenian genocide and near starvation in the Syrian desert, an unforgettable character begins to emerge. Zabelle's journey encompasses years in an Istanbul orphanage, a fortuitous adoption by a rich Armenian family, and an arranged marriage to an Armenian grocer who brings her to America where the often comic interactions and battles she wages are forever colored by shadows from the long-lost world of her past.

From the Back Cover

As Zabelle's family assembles for her funeral in present-day Massachusetts, it becomes clear that her children hardly knew her. But as this alternately comic and heartbreaking novel unfolds -- beginning with Zabelle's survival of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Turkey and her subsequent emigration to America for an arranged marriage -- an unforgettable character emerges.

Review Quotes

"A mother is never truly known to those she loves most--because she does not reveal her secret sorrows and her dreams to her ownbabies. . .But the full and dramatic details of Zabelle Chahasbanian's life. . .are a treasure to discover in this elegant novel.-- "Redbook""Zabelle's story is richly and convincingly rendered. . ."Zabelle" poignantly renders the generational differences, the pull ofAmerica, the slow fading of the old culture, the prejudices encountered and hardships overcome." -- "San Francisco Chronicle"

"A mother is never truly known to those she loves most -- because she does not reveal her secret sorrows and dreams to her own babies...But the full and dramatic details of Zabelle Chahasbanian's life...are treasure to discover in this elegant novel. -- Redbook