“Ambitious and richly layered debut… Nayeri unflinchingly evokes the compromises of a young woman monitored by mullahs and gossipy neighbors, but she doesn’t neglect the universal comedy of growing up.”
—Vogue
“Lovely.”
—Vanity Fair
“More than captivating… immersing the reader in the dangers and delights of 1980’s Iran.”
—Bust
“A feel-good family drama”
—Cosmopolitan: 21 Things for You to Do This Month
“Nayeri’s highly accomplished debut is a rich, multilayered reading experience. Structurally complex, the overriding theme is storytelling in all its forms, and the fine line between truth and lies. Each one of the large cast of characters is fully realized and sympathetic. Saba is a captivating heroine whose tragedies and triumphs will carry readers on a long but engrossing ride. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal (Starred Review)
“Set in the 1980s and early 1990s in a northern Iranian village, the novel draws out a rich and sensual old-world life…Told through memory, fantasy, and conjecture, the rest of the novel is as much about storytelling –– its art, lies, comforts, truths, pitfalls, and saving grace –– as it is about anything else. We see a complex — albeit sad — “new Iran”: a country that is post-revolution, in the throes of war, and constantly falling short of its characters’ expectations and dreams.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
“Elegant aspirational novel of life in post-revolutionary Iran. Lyrical, humane and hopeful; a welcome view of the complexities of small-town life, in this case in a place that inspires fear instead of sympathy.”
—Kirkus
“From the imprint that brought you Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner; the sort of embracing and embraceable culturally far-reaching fiction Riverhead does best.”
—Booklist
“Don’t be misled by the title—a teaspoon is no measure of the hopes, dreams and history that fill this ambitious novel…There’s a kaleidoscopic quality to Dina Nayeri’s prose, evoking the beat of Eastern storytelling, while its cadences remain resolutely American. The novel’s message, however, is universal: we must do all we can to control our own fates.”
—Daily Mail
“Lyrical evocation of a vanishing Iran… This ambitious novel set in northern Iran in the decade after the 1979 revolution contains not a teaspoon but a ton of history, imagination, and longing.”
–Publishers Weekly
“A haunting tale”
—Reuters
“A vivid evocation of a young woman facing a radically changing world”
—The Long List, Barnes and Noble Review
“Mesmerizing. The storytelling power is so overwhelming that I was moved by the characters more than the political philosophy, but that, too, resonated, inseparable elements in a compound that was at once a kind of rebellion, a personal Tehran Spring, but also about love and friendship that transcends place and politics and a yearning for something else.”
—Newspages
“Nayeri paints an intensive portrait of life in the Iranian countryside before and after the revolution. The perspectives and characters in the novel shed light on the true feelings of a hijacked people.”
—DC Spotlight
“Dina Nayeri’s debut novel A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea is a complex and lyrical study of life in post-revolutionary Iran, an intensely moving and profound book from both personal and political perspectives.”
—Largehearted Boy
“What a tremendous gift she offers us throughout the book, an opportunity to connect with the richness of Iran, while simultaneously enlarging our understanding of the human experience.”
—The Baltimore Times
“Nayeri offers a necessary and complex portrait of Iranian culture… Through the Hafezis’ story, Iran comes across in beautiful and evocative prose as a place of tree-covered mountains, fragrant rice-fields, and a rich history of poetry; the fictional town Cheshmeh is a character itself. Alongside the beautiful writing is a cast of colorful and captivating characters who belie Iranian stereotypes… Nayeri offers readers a new picture of post-revolutionary Iran. Western readers will likely come away with the realization that the tragedy and chaos of the revolution does not mean beauty does not run parallel to it.”
—Aslan Media
“Her first novel [contains] captivating and sensual writing in which she plays with narration, character, and the themes of memory and destiny… Dina Nayeri also shows that imagination and storytelling are the last bastions of freedom from madness.”
— NOVA Planet (France)
“A beautiful tale that celebrates the power of the human imagination against cruelty.”
—Glamour (France)
“In striking a balance between poetry and tragedy, between imagination and harsh reality, the author delivers a splendid novel full of hope.”
—La Vie (France)
“A sumptuous novel, sensual and delicate writing. A haunting story …. of childhood and dreams, a half-open door into another world …”
—La Vie Quotidienne (France)
“A remarkable first novel.”
—Psychologies Magazine (France)
“The prologue of Dina Nayeri’s TEASPOON OF EARTH AND SEA could stand alone as a suspenseful and powerful short story…. a lovely, textured story of a strong-willed, dream filled girl. The book may well remind readers of Khaled Hosseini’s ‘The Kite Runner.’”
—Iowa City Gazette
“Casts a spell from the first page to last, that extols the power of imagination and storytelling (and, of course, of lies) against a backdrop of post-revolutionary Iran… sometimes with events so confronting one has to put the book down to unconstrict the throat. American-Iranian author Dina Nayeri’s first novel is a treasure of fascinating insights as she counterpoints two profoundly different cultures.”
—The West Australian
“One of the most touching books this summer!”
—Woman (Germany)
“A complex debut with a lot of faith in the power of storytelling.”
—Spiegel (Germany)
“Magical novel about a young Iranian who overcomes the pain of war and separation from her family, including her twin sister. Far From our Landspeaks of the history of Iran, the power of memory, and the adaptation of humans to other cultures.”
—El Imparcial (Spain)
“A gripping novel about the struggle of a brave youth in Iran after the victory of the Islamic Republic.”
—Cuore (Spain)
“An interesting reflection on the construction of self.”
—Diario Montano & El Correo (Spain)
“A striking novel which suggests a reassuring truth: even against the worst destiny, it is always worthwhile to struggle.”
—Gioia (Italy)
“A powerful debut novel.”
—Marie Claire (Italy)
“This novel is like a confrontation between the life we’re living and the ones that we could have lived.”
—Il Tempo (Italy)
“Nayeri is the contemporary descendant of an ancient storytelling tradition”
—TTL, La Stampa (Italy)
“A debut novel that leaves a mark.”
—TV Corriere della Sera (Italy)
“Charming and engrossing, A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea is a vivid and evocative story about the places we love, the places we long for—and the places we can only imagine.”
–Karen Thompson Walker, The Age of Miracles
“A gripping, affecting portrait of Iran at its most turbulent. Nayeri is a gifted storyteller, and deeply attuned to the darkest side of her homeland’s politcal upheavels: the rendering of families.”
—Azadeh Moaveni, Lipstick Jihad
“A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea is pure magic: lyrical, captivating, funny and heartbreaking. Entering the world of the intriguing Saba Hafezi and her friends in a seaside village in northern Iran, I lost my heart. Powerful storytelling kept me riveted from the first page, but this is also a keenly intelligent investigation into the nature of narrative, the kaleidoscope of stories, dreams, and memories that define us, and how we create our own pasts and futures.”
–Jean Kwok, author of Girl in Translation
“In Dina Nayeri’s captivating first novel, a young Iranian girl loses half her family and survives in a dangerous world through a thrilling act of imagination. Lyric, intelligent, compassionate and often very funny, A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea reminds us again how storytelling can save our lives. A brilliant debut.”
—Michelle Huneven, author of Jamesland and Blame
“Dina Nayeri’s debut novel had me hooked from the first page. This fantastical account of the Hafezi sisters is not only a riveting tale, but also chock full of keen cultural observations. A great read for fans of Iranian American literature.”
—Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi
See more reviews from readers here.
