An American Mom in Asia

What a way to wrap up the letter A for my Around the World Reading Challenge! I absolutely loved The Orphan Sky by Ella Leya. This novel had heart, music, poetry, love and loss. I am so glad I read this.

I can’t say I knew too much about Azerbaijan before reading this novel, but it’s recent history broke my heart. Like so many other countries in the region during the 1970’s-1990’s, the iron fist of the Iron Curtain truly crushed the Azeri spirit. The Orphan Sky follows young Leila, a piano prodigy doing her best to be a good comrade and make her country proud. But when a green door and a new friend threaten all that she knows, Leila follows her heart over her government and pays dearly. This story weaves classical piano with Azeri poetry and folk tales with jazz music and a heartbreaking plot.

I read this book so fast and couldn’t wait to see how it ended. I also loved that my edition of the book included an interview with the author, which shed light on which parts of the story were autobiographical and which were fiction. I can’t recommend this book enough! This book also reminded me of another book I read for this challenge titled Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi for Albania. Free is a nonfiction memoir, but captures this coming of age story of a young girl during a Communist revolution. Also, Free was another a 5 star read for me!

⭐️ My rating: 5 stars of 5