Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize Shortlist
 
Cyrus Shams is lost.
 
Ever since his mother’s plane was senselessly shot down over the Persian Gulf when he was just a baby, Cyrus has been grappling with her death. Now, newly sober, he is set to learn the truth of her life.
 
When an encounter with a dying artist leads Cyrus towards the mysteries of his past - an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as an Angel of Death, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter – he finds himself once again caught up in the story of his mother, who may not have been who or what she seemed. As Cyrus searches for meaning in the scattered clues of his life, a final revelation transforms everything he thought he knew.
 
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'I will carry this story, and the people in it, with me for the rest of my life.' - John Green
 
'Smart, dazzling, different... a novel of depth and complexity, tragedy and humour . . . This book is thrilling. There's no other word for it. It's like watching the novel itself be reinvented.' - Ann Patchett
 
'Kaveh Akbar renders the full spectrum of life, and death, with great beauty and care.' - Raven Leilani