This Mother's Day, many of us will also be thinking about our grandmothers, great-grandmothers and ancestors. The connection between grandmother and grandchild is at the heart of "Memory Garden," published last year by local mother-daughter author-illustrator duo Zohreh Ghahremani and Susie Ghahremani.
"Back home, we would need a lot more than this," Nana says as she carries a box of flowers. "We didn't have parks and playgrounds, so a big garden was the perfect place to play."
I don't know where "back home" is, but Nana lived there when she was my age.Excerpt from "Memory Garden" by Zohreh Ghahremani and Susie Ghahremani (Henry Holt)
The book is about gardening, immigration and memory — and how those fuel the intergenerational bond between a nana and her granddaughter.
Zohreh is an accomplished writer; her novel "Sky of Red Poppies" was the 2012 One Book, One San Diego selection. Susie is a prolific artist and illustrator, who has worked on many titles — including the essential "Stack the Cats" picture book. Her latest, the delightful "Rosemary Long Ears," came out in April.
The two didn't set out to work on a project together.
"In picture books, usually the editor and publisher are who choose the artist to work with," Susie said. "So my mom had sold her manuscript to the publisher, and there was no illustrator attached to it. I was desperate to illustrate it, actually. I really wanted to, but that's just not the process."
The publisher had someone in mind — Susie had recently illustrated another gardening-adjacent book, and her style fit the project's needs. Unbeknownst to the them, she was the author's daughter.
This meant the world to Zohreh. "To this day, it seems like a dream. I have to pinch myself to believe it," she said.
The story follows a granddaughter and her immigrant grandmother spending a day in the garden. It's a beautiful book, filled with vivid imagery, detailed scenes and tender exchanges between the intergenerational pair.
Zohreh said that as an immigrant, she often thinks about the stories and essence of her past that's waiting to be shared.
"I think a lot of immigrants shut down the voice within. Where you were born and raised will forever stay with you. It doesn't matter how many years each involves — I came here as a young woman in her early 20s, and I've lived in this country 50 years. But when I think deep down, that Persianness has stayed with me. And that's forever part of me. Therefore, putting that out is my legacy — to my children and now my grandchildren," she said.
Interview highlights
On the unplanned collaboration
Susie Ghahremani: The editor knew my work on another gardening-adjacent book called "What Will Grow?" and had sent my mom my portfolio, and asked if I would be an acceptable illustrator for the project, completely not knowing that we're related. My sister (Lily), who also shares our last name, was representing my mom as her agent and called me with happy tears. I think the editor didn't know necessarily that they were related either.
Zohreh Ghahremani: It meant — and still does mean — the world to me. I never thought I would write a picture book. For years, Susie had told me that she would love it if someday I wrote something that she could illustrate.
And when I did it, Lily had already told me, "We can't pick Susie to be the illustrator," as much as we both wanted to. Lily is my other daughter — the agent. And so to this day, it seems like a dream. I have to pinch myself to believe it.
On family stories and work
Susie: It felt different in every other way. I've never known any of the authors I worked with before, so part of it was sort of wanting to meet her expectations or her hopes for the book in the most positive way. Not as a pressure, but the nature of the story makes it also deeply personal for me.
"What happened to that garden, Nana?"
She takes a big breath. "We had to leave it."
"Can you go back and see it?"
Nana shakes her head. "When we moved to this country, it was time to plant a whole new garden."
I point to our flowers and say, "Well, I like this garden a lot."
Nana gently strokes the back of my head. "That's so nice to hear."
She puts her arms around me and whispers, "Because when you really love a place, it keeps growing in your heart."Excerpt from "Memory Garden" by Zohreh Ghahremani and Susie Ghahremani (Henry Holt)
I sort of felt like I was going through this discovery process myself of how do I know my culture — much like the protagonist in the book, I've never been to Iran. So, I thought about what informs your knowledge of a culture when you haven't been to the country that it originates from. And I really had to dive deep and think really deeply about my own experiences.
It was very revealing to me about all the ways my mom and my dad have imbued culture in my life and have made it part of my identity through my lived experience. It was a really emotional experience, and in all the positive ways and also the sort of deep ways, the deep ways that an experience can be meaningful to you. It never felt like work.
On writing about and for immigrant families
Zohreh: I write from my heart when it comes to culture and emotions. But at the same time, my main goal as a writer is to bring in equality. So even though this is an Iranian grandmother with an Iranian American little girl being her granddaughter — she talks about a Persian garden. But in the end, it is the garden that belongs to all immigrants. The relationship here is grandmother and granddaughter, but it can be any older immigrant with a new American child.
On sanctuaries and nature
Susie: I'm a really big outdoorsy person, and while I don't have the green thumb that my mom does for a garden, I recognize how it — in any culture — can form sort of a sanctuary, and it becomes a peaceful space that you share with the people who matter to you. So that feeling of warmth in the outdoor environment was really important for me to communicate.
I realized a lot of my cultural experiences were through the visuals — through things like textiles and the colors of things like food. I really wanted to make sure that those things that I feel intuitively about my culture were also present in the illustrations.
On stories and inheritance
Zohreh: I think a lot of immigrants shut down the voice within. Where you were born and raised will forever stay with you. It doesn't matter how many years each involves.
I came here as a young woman in her early 20s, and I've lived in this country 50 years. But when I think deep down, that Persianness has stayed with me. And that that's forever part of me. Therefore, putting that out is my legacy to my children and now my grandchildren. And this is what I tell a lot of adults, and I address them even during the talks about the children's book, I tell them: "Within each one of you, there are stories that these kids need to know. Tell them. If you don't write, tape them. Make sure that the story doesn't die with us."
