Host Kathleen Stephenson speaks with award-winning author Diana Abu-Jaber about her new book Birds of Paradise, a multilayered novel about a family that comes apart at the seams and finds its way together again. A family is haunted by the disappearance of a daughter who ran away when she was 13. As the daughter turns 18 she and the family she left behind must deal with the consequences of her actions. Themes of the book include real estate, gentrification, the politics of food and sugar, teen culture and marriage.
Diana Abu-Jaber is the author of Origin, Crescent, Arabian Jazz and The Language of Baklava. She has won the PEN Center USA Award and the American Book Award. She divides her time between Coral Gables, Florida and Portland, Oregon.