Raincoast Books

What Will You Read Next?

The Orphan Sky

9781402298653

Sourcebooks
Available: 02/03/15
5.5 x 8.25 · 368 pages
9781402298653
CDN $22.50 · pb

Buy the Book
+ Amazon.ca
+ Chapters.Indigo.ca
+ Independent Retailers

printprint

Bookmark and Share

Ella Leya

Set at the crossroads of Turkish, Persian and Russian cultures under the red flag of Communism in the late 1970s, The Orphan Sky reveals one woman's struggle to reconcile her ideals with the corrupt world around her, and to decide whether to betray her country or her heart.
Leila is a young classical pianist who dreams of winning international competitions and bringing awards to her beloved country Azerbaijan. She is also a proud daughter of the Communist Party. When she receives an assignment from her communist mentor to spy on a music shop suspected of traitorous Western influences, she does it eagerly, determined to prove her worth to the Party.
But Leila didn't anticipate the complications of meeting Tahir, the rebellious painter who owns the music shop. His jazz recordings, abstract art, and subversive political opinions crack open the veneer of the world she's been living in. Just when she begins to fall in love with both the West and Tahir, her comrades force her to make an impossible choice.

Ella Leya was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and received asylum in the United States in 1990. She is a composer and singer and lives in Laguna Beach, California, and London. The Orphan Sky is her first novel.