The house of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

This is one of those books where all the characters are portrayed so beautifully that you can relate to them. I am impressed that the author, Andre Dubus could actually portray an Iranian family with such depth and genuineness. One of the best stories that puts the reader in a dilemma  on who to side with. Either the American couple who have a real cause to work on but chose the wrong method to work it out. Or the Iranian immigrant and his family who were stripped from their aristocratic background by the Iranian revolution and want to survive in their new immigrant status.


Masoud was a colonel in the Iranian army before the Iranian revolution and was stripped of his power during the revolutions. After moving to US he worked on multiple menial jobs to survive and provide for his family. Kathy is a recovering drug addict who was surviving with odd cleaning jobs and trying to save her ancestral home. The story is a conflict between Kathy and Masoud for the house that belongs to Kathy and the consequences of the conflict. I had a immediate liking to Masoud and his way of coping with his situation and an immediate hatred towards Kathy even though her husband has left her to fend for herself.

Masoud is a brilliant character, well grounded, who would do anything to bring back the honor and respect his family had lost. He would hide his pain and reality from his family to keep them happy. Kathy also tried doing the same but for different reasons. I think this story has an undertone of the immigrant to US versus born in US clash or a east versus west culture clash or maybe both. Kathy is your white and entitled American who has every right and opportunity to pursue the American dream or the pursuit of happiness but she wasted it in pursuit of becoming a drug addict and then recovering from it.

Masoud is the immigrant from east, who is not able to cope up with his new poor immigrant status but still wants to make it good for him and his family to live and survive in America. He loves his family and doesn't want them to see him struggle and therefore leaves home in formal suit and changes into a workman suit to do menial jobs. Andre has very cleverly framed his characters and their situations and then woven them into a series of events that transpire from those situations.

While reading this book I came to know that this book was adapted into a movie in 2003. I want to watch the movie and see if it did justice to the book.