"Pomegranate Soup" by Marsha Mehran was already a best-selling sensation in Europe, and seems very topical in its look at multicultural Ireland. "Pomegranate Soup" follows the Iranian Aminpour sisters, Marjan, Bahar and Layla. They escaped their revolution-wracked native land for the safety of London, and then Ballinacroagh, Mayo. Not all of the locals are exactly thrilled that these (in the words of the village bully) "fecking foreigners" have descended upon their village. But the Aminpour sisters open a bakery specializing in Persian pastries and soon the whole village is craving the tasty treats. In the meantime, young Layla falls in love, but that only begins to complicates things. Indeed, the harmony does not last as the past comes back to haunt the Aminpour sisters. True, "Pomegranate Soup" is predictable at times, with its stock cast of village Irish characters (the kindly, comic priest, the widow, the incurable gossip, the village idiot/racist). Still, the story is a good one, and Mehran uses food to almost magic-realist effect. It's worth noting that the story has autobiographical touches. Born in Iran just before the Revolution of 1979, the Mehran family fled to Argentina where her parents ran a Middle Eastern restaurant. So, why isn't this novel set in South America? Well, Mehran married an Irishman, and their subsequent visits to his native land may have influenced the setting of "Pomegranate Soup."

($13.95 / 240 pages / Random House)