On Loving
by Lili Naghdi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Romance
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BLURB:
In
1972, Dr. Rose Hemmings has just finished her general surgery residency when a
haunted stranger is shot in front of her in a New York City bar, and their
lives become forever intertwined. And when, having been given the blessing of
her adoptive father on his deathbed, Rose travels to prerevolutionary Iran to
discover the past her American family kept secret from her, she finds a true
Pandora's box. It is a world both foreign and familiar, in which her primary
place is as the heiress to a great tribe. In Iran, Rose will find family she
never dreamed of, her own people, and a man who loves her as passionately as he
does the rare black roses of his garden. She will return to the United States
carrying a new secret and torn between two men: the one she loves helplessly,
and the one who loves her unconditionally.
Woven
throughout with Persian poetry ancient and modern, On Loving is the story of
one woman's lifetime of love and loss, of societal change in a nomadic people,
and of overcoming personal challenges, including mental and physical health, to
find true contentment. Above all, it is a story of love: its physiology,
psychology and philosophy; the many forms it takes; its myths and truths; its
challenges, its joys and its gifts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
“It was almost nine when I got back.
Kim had fed Layla and put her to sleep. I sent Kim home for the night, kissed
Layla’s face good night and went to my room to change for bed.
Siyavash’s letter was still on the
floor. I bent down and picked it up.
Inhaling the scent of the dried
black rose, I wandered to the window and stared at the thin, even white carpet
of snow on the street. Where do I want to be? I asked myself. Somewhere
beautiful, calming. Somewhere full of life, with a boundless, vaulted sky above
my head, perhaps!
I then closed my eyes and let myself
being taken to Siyavash’s majestic rose garden in Isfahan. I could feel the
breeze in my hair, could feel the warmth of the sun on my face. I remembered
how Siyavash had looked at me with love and admiration there. I was blind not
to see it then. I couldn’t recall Dean looking at me like that …
I opened my eyes and read Siyavash’s
letter again, raking my fingers through my hair. Then, nervously rubbing my
neck, I went to the phone next to my bed.
“Good evening,” I said when the
other end of the line picked up.
“Rose! Is that … Is that you?” It
was Siyavash.
“Yes, it’s me!” I paused and swallowed
the lump that had risen in my throat. “Come back home! Just come back to me!”
I quickly hung up and rushed to the
window, as if for air. Snowflakes were still dancing their way down to the
ground.
My chest felt so constricted that I
could hardly breathe.
Am I questioning Dean’s love for me?
I wondered. Am I comparing it to Siyavash’s? But that was impossible! I shook
my head. I’m just giving Siyavash a chance to redeem himself, a proper second
chance. But the reminder to myself was pointless: the truth was something else,
and I knew it!
I was at fault here. I was the
guilty — guilty of blocking not only my ears but also my soul from hearing
Siyavash’s voice, so ignorant indeed that my heart was finally reproaching me
for my bigotry and cruelty.
I folded the letter and tucked it
away in the drawer next to my bed.
I’ll know soon how I need to deal
with him, I told myself. Or I’ll just have to find a way around it!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Lili
Naghdi is an Iranian Canadian physician who was born and raised in Tehran. She
continued her education and research after moving to Canada with her husband
and daughter in 1996. Today she practices family medicine in Vaughan, Ontario,
with particular interests in women’s and mental health. Being a family
physician gives her the privilege of connecting with patients and participating
in their care with a deeper understanding of the physical, emotional and social
adversities they face. Interacting with people of many different backgrounds
has also provided Dr. Naghdi with the opportunity to grow as a person, a
physician and an author.
Growing
up in pre- and post-revolutionary Iran, Lili became fascinated by the magical
realm of literature, poetry and history. She began collecting prized quotations
at the young age of eight. Dr. Naghdi has written poetry and short stories in
both Farsi and English, but she eventually followed William Wordsworth’s advice
to “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart,” and turned to fiction.
On
Loving is her first novel. Inspired by both the ordinary people she has the
honor to support and by the great literature of Persia and the world — from
Hafez to Forugh Farrokhzad and from John Steinbeck to Margaret Mitchell — Dr.
Naghdi passionately agrees with Boris Pasternak, whose Yuri Zhivago is a
physician and patriotic poet, when he writes: “Literature is the art of
discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people and saying with
ordinary words something extraordinary.”
Website: www.lilinaghdi.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44310723-on-loving?from_search=true
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/lilinaghdiauthor/posts/?ref=page_internal
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naghdil/
Amazon
author page URL:
https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile
Barnes
and Noble Author URL:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/reviews/books/1130591456?ean=9781999497002
Videos
of her book launch:
https://youtu.be/iqMoLoKBRPI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYtdrHiWffk
Buy Links:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER
CODE
Lili Naghdi will be awarding a $50
Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
INTERVIEW:
If you could have one paranormal ability, what would it be?
Lili Naghdi: To turn back time.
What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about
you?
Lili Naghdi:
I’ve never listened to any audiobook and I
won’t, even my own audiobook!
When writing descriptions of your hero/ine, what feature do you start
with?
Lili Naghdi: I always focus on the emotions that my hero
is experiencing and then start describing the her/his features based on them at
that moment in the story. To me that is everything.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Lili Naghdi: Definitely a pantser. I let my characters
and story take me with them where they want.
Did you learn anything from writing this book? If so, what?
Lili Naghdi: It was very enjoyable to write this story.
I really loved doing that. For the first time in my life I felt that I could do
something that I always wanted to do. I became more familiar with my strengths
and weaknesses. I cried with my characters and laughed with them. It showed me
another part of me that I never explored before.
