AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT PRIZE A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE OBSERVER, THE NEW YORK TIMES, AND THE NEW YORKER A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST Cyrus Shams has always been lost. He’s grown up tangled in the mysteries of his past – an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter, and his mother, whose plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf when he was just a baby. Now, newly sober and maybe in love, he’s headed for an encounter that will transform everything he thought he knew. Can a final revelation change the truth of Cyrus s life? Electrifying, funny, and all-consuming, Kaveh Akbar s Martyr! is a masterpiece. Dazzling Ann Patchett ‘Profoundly moving Elif Shafak ‘Gorgeous’ Tommy Orange ‘Radiant’ Lauren Groff ‘Stunning’ John Green ‘Miraculous The New York Times ‘Sensational’ Daily Mail ‘Kaleidoscopic’ The Guardian * Martyr! was an instant New York Times bestseller w/c 27/1/24
