A sweeping, compelling storybringing to life the Iranian Revolution, from an author who experienced it first hand. It is Iran in 1969. In the house of the mosque, the family of Aqa Jaan has lived for eight centuries. Now it is occupied by three cousinsAqa Jaan, a merchant and head of the city’s bazaar; Alsaberi, the imam of the mosque; and Aqa Shoja, the mosque’s muezzin. The house teems with life as eachfamily grows up with their own triumphs and tragedies. Sadiq is waiting for a suitor to knock at the door to ask for her hand, while her two grandmothers sweep the floors each morning dreaming of traveling to Mecca. Shahbal longs only to get hold of a television to watch the first moon landing. These daily dramas play out under the watchful eyes of the storks that nest on the rooftop of the house. But this family will experience upheaval unknown to previous generations, for in Iran, political unrest is brewing. The Shah is losing his hold on power; the Ayatollah incites rebellion from his exile in France; and one day the Ayatollah returnsthe consequences of whichwill be felt in every corner of Aqa Jaan’s family. The story of a key period of world historythe Iranian Revolutionis told through the eyes ofone family.

卡德爾•阿蔔杜拉，1954年齣生於伊朗阿拉剋，荷籍伊朗作傢，1988年定居荷蘭。

受其祖父影響，阿蔔杜拉從12歲開始鑽研西方文學，由此對西方社會産生瞭濃厚的興趣。他曾在德黑蘭的大學學習物理學。1988年來到荷蘭後，阿蔔杜拉很快熟練地掌握瞭荷蘭語，並開始用荷蘭語創作。他的首部荷蘭語作品為《鷹》，此書獲得瞭荷蘭的“金驢耳”奬，成為年度最暢銷書籍。1995年，阿蔔杜拉發錶瞭短篇故事集《姑娘們和遊擊隊》。1997年，小說《空瓶之旅》問世。2000年，《天書•我父親的筆記本》榮獲荷蘭E•杜貝榮奬。

2006年，阿蔔杜拉成為荷蘭萊頓大學的客座作傢。