In Ariel Sabar’s fascinating reconciliation of past and present, he and his father travel to Iraq, his father’s birthplace. In My Father's Paradise, Sabar brings to life the ancient town of Zakho, telling his family’s story and discovering their place in the millennia-long saga of Sepharic Jews in Islamic lands. Populated by Kurdish chieftains, trailblazing linguists, Arab nomads, and devout believers, this intimate and powerful book is an improbable story of tolerance and hope.

Ariel Sabar is an award-winning former staff writer for the Baltimore Sun and the Providence (RI) Journal. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, and many other publications.