Iranian-American writer Tahereh Mafi has just released her latest book This Woven Kingdom. The New York Times bestselling and National Book Award nominated author specializes in fiction for children and young adults.
A truly prolific writer, the book comes soon after her 2021 novel An Emotion of Great Delight. Tracing a Muslim family’s experience in the wake of 9/11, the novel received glowing praise from critics.
An instant New York Times bestseller, This Woven Kingdom represents the first in a new trilogy of fantasy novels.
Tahereh Mafi launches her writing career with “Shatter Me”
Mafi published her first novel Shatter Me in 2011. A young adult (YA) dystopian thriller, Buzzfeed included it on their list of the best YA books of all time. 20th Century Fox acquired the film rights to the book in 2011 before its release. Mafi continued this series of novels with Unravel Me in 2013 and Ignite Me in 2014. Two novellas—Destroy Me (2012) and Fracture Me (2013)–also accompany the highly popular series.
In 2016, Mafi published Furthermore, “a story rich in color and magic and wonder,” she says. For this novel, Mafi opted for middle-grade fiction, moving away from the YA genre that most know her for. She announced a further trilogy set in the Shatter Me universe in 2017: Restore Me (2018), Defy Me (2019) and Imagine Me (2020).
Mafi’s 2018 novel A Very Large Expanse of Sea reached new heights, longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. It follows a young Muslim girl, tired of racism, whose world opens up when she meets someone.
Tahereh Mafi draws on “abnormal” childhood
Born to Iranian immigrants in Connecticut, Mafi moved with her family to Northern California at the age of 12. The youngest of five with four older brothers, she would later move to Orange County at 14 years old. Mafi graduated from Soka University of America in California.
Mafi had what she describes as a childhood “far from the norm.” She therefore found solace and escapism in fiction that actually intended to portray the average experience. “What’s it like to be a high school cheerleader, to date the quarter-back? Or to be a prom queen? These were as fantastical to me as reading Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings,” she says.
In turn, Mafi hopes her fiction provides a window into her own experiences as a young person. Her aim: to normalize a whole range of experiences, allowing readers to step inside the lives of others.
Mafi currently lives with her husband and fellow author Ransom Riggs with their young daughter in Irvine, California.
“This Woven Kingdom” by Tahereh Mafi
Mafi’s latest novel This Woven Kingdom came out at the beginning of February 2022. The first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology, the book follows two main characters: Alizeh and Kamran. Secretly the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom, most know Alizeh as a disposable servant, hiding in plain sight. Her master and secret admirer -the crown prince Kamran- has heard the prophecies that predict the death of his king. Little does he know that his crush would one day turn his world and kingdom upside down.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author Cassandra Clare had these glowing words to say about it: “In a tale as exquisitely crafted as one of Alizeh’s own garments, Mafi weaves a spell of destiny and danger, forbidden love and courtly intrigue, magic and revolution.”
Stephanie Garber, another #1 New York Times bestselling author called it “an exquisite fantasy. Rich with clever prose, delicious twists, and breathtaking world building. Prepare to be destroyed—this one will wrench at your heart and make it pound, and in the end it will leave you entirely speechless.”
This Woven Kingdom is already an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller.
Get the book here.
