The latest addition to my website is Ghazaleh Alizadeh‘s خانه ادریسیها (The House of The Edrisis (Volume 1). The novel is set in what we know as Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, but it had been part of Persia and is now (1910s) part of Russia. The Edrisis are a decaying family living in a large decaying house. Mrs Edrisis, the matriarch lives there with her unmarried daughter Leqa, her unmarried grandson Vahab and an old retainer, Yāvar. Vahab is obsessed with his books. Leqa plays the piano. Neither has shown any sign of marrying. But the revolution has arrived and the various heroes, as they call themselves, gradually move in and take over under the command of the formidable (in every way) Showkat who purloins the colourfiul clothes she finds and is happy to pick a fist fight with anyone, male or female. The book is how we learn about the back stories of both the family and the heroes as well as how they do and do not get on. As this is the first of two volumes the ending is inconclusive.