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The Tenant
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by Freida McFadden (Goodreads Author)
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Apr 22, 2026 04:09PM

 
Book cover for Never Lie
Up to seventy percent of females who have been murdered were killed by an intimate partner. So in actuality, her suggestion to “get a boyfriend” is not only highly judgmental and insulting but would only increase my risk of meeting with a ...more
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“Naan (the Persian word for "bread") at the table is not only a constant companion but a revered guest. Wheat is considered sacred, a symbol of life and the beginnings of civilization. Not a single crumb is ever to be wasted and should always be repurposed.”
Naz Deravian, Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories

“So we improvised and made do, substituting where possible, always with an eye out for the postman and packages from Iran. Packages bursting with dried herbs and spices, well-traveled scents and secrets from home. Envelopes with a few perfunctory words from family (lest officials be monitoring them) and a photograph or two pulled from all the picture albums that were left behind. Substitutes for all the loved ones that were left behind.”
Naz Deravian, Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories

“. . . as much as I missed the warmth of my family left behind in Iran, every inch of my being needed to settle and stay put. . . . Even talk of changing apartments was too much to bear. They say children adapt and adjust to change much easier than adults do. Like a soft ray of light settling on a pool of water, children bend and go with the flow. I was done bending and flowing. I was ready to stake my flag. . . .”
Naz Deravian, Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories

“I have a complicated relationship with airports. A space that once held promise, the gateway to summer vacations and adventure, now makes my heart race a little faster, beat a little harder. A seemingly random red strip of tape on the ground, a dated stamp and ink pad, a place of birth forever etched on a passport, and a somber uniformed officer determine our future, our lives.... I wonder what new family is anxiously pacing back there, sleep-deprived and confused, hoping for that stamp to hit the ink, hoping to step into a new life.”
Naz Deravian, Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories

“There's something that happens to the newly displaced. Whatever power or choice that was stripped away in the process of reluctantly leaving one's homeland is fervently reclaimed in other situations, and honing in on the best spot to sit and enjoy a meal, be it at a restaurant or a lakeside, takes on the utmost importance. . . . If nothing else, we were always prepared for any and all circumstances and with plenty of provisions to see us through.”
Naz Deravian, Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories

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