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From the first sentence; "They're all dead now", this book is different from
other novels in the 'epic family genre'. It's not historical fiction, although
the impact of WWI, the depression, and in particular prohibition, are
considerable. Nor is it romantic fiction: although characters indulge in wistful
crushes and fervent religious sentiments of virtue, the Piper's romances range
from unlikely to disastrous. The story begins in the section aptly titled 'The
Garden', where Gaelic-speaking piano tuner James Piper succumbs to temptation
and elopes with beautiful Materia Mahmoud, the 13-year-old daughter of wealthy
Lebanese immigrants. In his mother tongue, the piano tuner sings the Song of
Songs to his child bride, prophetically, '...a garden inclosed is my sister, a
spring shut up, a fountain sealed'. Materia replies in her mother tongue
'Habibi, BeHebak', and it is clear very quickly that the lovers will never speak
the same language and that James' love for Materia has made of her 'a spring
shut up'. Her family disowns her, and with the birth of each of her daughters,
Materia retreats further into her memories, kneeling in reverie beside her
cedar-lined hope chest for hours.