BOOKS
LAND OF DREAMS​
In the 1930s, scandal, secret loves, and murder shatter a woman’s Hollywood dream in a gripping novel by the USA Today bestselling author of When the World Goes Quiet.
​
It’s 1933, and though the country is stuck in the Great Depression, movies are the ultimate escape. But Hollywood is skilled at selling lies, and nothing is as it seems.
Frankie Donnelly is scrappy, smart, and ambitious. Her knack for spinning any story into stellar publicity has made her an invaluable “fixer” at RCO Studios, where she works under the tutelage of powerful Nico Marconi. Frankie’s latest fix is the upcoming marriage of Hollywood royals Jack Sawyer and June Finney, and millions of fans can’t wait to see their favorite silver-screen lovers tie the knot. But Frankie knows the truth: The marriage is an artful cover for Jack and June’s darkest secrets.
When a shocking murder occurs, allegiances fracture, the tabloids go wild, and a devastated public is left reeling. Frankie uncovers new layers of scandal and deception and is forced to choose which Hollywood player to protect and who to destroy. Now, more than ever, the country needs a happy ending—but at what cost?
WHEN THE WORLD GOES QUIET
It’s 1918 in German-occupied Bruges, Belgium. With luck, Evelien will make it to the end of the war and be given what she was promised: a prized painting in exchange for safeguarding her employer’s possessions. Until then, Evelien knows to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. But life never goes to plan, especially in war.
A member of the resistance approaches Evelien: steal a list of names hidden in her employer’s home. In return, she’ll get a letter from her long-missing husband, Emiel. She’d lost hope of Emiel’s survival, but the promised letter puts her certainty of his death in question. Evelien begins her mission and soon forms a friendship with a soldier who is struggling with the devastating demands of battle. Their shared passion for art deepens the bond, and Evelien faces a heart-wrenching truth: she longs for Emiel’s safe return…but not necessarily to her.
As the final days of the war loom closer, Evelien has never been in more danger. And should she survive the war’s bitter end, what choices will she make for a life beyond liberation?
TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY
It’s 1979. Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work. When opportunity arrives, she seizes it, accompanying her Kurdish boyfriend, Delan, to northern Iraq for a family wedding, hoping to capture an image that lands her a job in the photo department. More important, though, the trip is a chance to understand Delan’s childhood and bridge the differences of their pasts. Yet when the return home proves less safe than Delan believed, Olivia is confronted with a reality she had not expected, and is awakened to the dangers of a town patrolled by Iraqi military under curfew and constant threat.
​
But in this world torn apart by war, there are intoxicating sights and scents, Delan’s loving family, innocence not yet compromised, and small acts of kindness that flourish unexpectedly. All of it will be tested when Olivia captures a shattering, tragic moment on film, one that upends all their lives and proves that true bravery begins with an open heart.
YOU WERE HERE
Abby Walters has always been preoccupied with death, accidental and early. When she is thirty-three, a recurring dream from her past returns: a paralyzing nightmare of being buried alive, the taste of dirt in her mouth terrifying and real. But this time a name from her family's history is revealed. Looking for answers, Abby returns home to Minnesota for the first time in fourteen years, where she reconnects with her high school crush, now a police detective on the trail of a violent criminal. As she begins to uncover the traces of a love triangle gone horribly wrong, the carefully buried events of one fateful night in 1948 are brought shockingly to life.
You Were Here can be purchased at your favorite retailers, including....
PSYCHIC JUNKIE
When her promised stardom fails to materialize, struggling actress Sarah Lassez finds solace in psychics who predict the coming of the man of her dreams. She's sure she's found him in Wilhelm, a suave hotel sous-chef from Germany, but mayhem ensues when she takes the words of the psychic over the words of her actual boyfriend and is convinced he's about to propose - when in reality he's planning on leaving the country....without her. Sarah's world dissolves into a haze of credit card debt, loneliness, and a raging addiction to psychics that threatens to destroy her finances, her relationships, and her sanity. Written with Gian Sardar, Psychic Junkie is Sarah's memoir, a hilarious and poignant story that will that will resonate with everyone who has ever tried to make sense of career, relationships, and adulthood.
Psychic Junkie can be purchased at your favorite retailers, including....
Advanced Praise for Take What You Can Carry
“
Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read.
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love - a partner, a family, a homeland, a people - deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling till the final page.
Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
Advanced Praise for You Were Here
“Sardar's characters are well-developed and her prose is dreamlike, at times reading very much like poetry.... {T}his deftly executed study of the dark that lies in the human heart is artfully drawn."
- Kirkus Reviews
“[B]eautifully written…this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain."
- Library Journal
“[An] intricately plotted first novel … Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end.”
- Publisher's Weekly
“
“
Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes, and long-buried secrets.Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be.
“
What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel…Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!
A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary love story, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.
Jennifer McMahon, author of The Night Sister and The Winter People
“
A beautiful puzzle box of a book — a page-turner that manages to also be strikingly poetic. I was gripped from the very first page, and moved by the time I made it to the last.
Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
“
Prepare to be dazzled by hauntingly masterful storytelling! Packed with delicious prose and page-turning intrigue, You Were Here is a remarkable and unforgettable debut.
Valerie Martin, author of Mary Reilly and Property
“
A terrific debut that beautifully spins the tale of two love stories coiled together by longing, betrayal, and rage that unravel to a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion. Sardar is a writer to watch.
Janelle Brown, author of All We Wanted Was Everything
Susan Meissner, author of Secrets of a Charmed Life
Carla Buckley, author of The Good Goodbye and The Things That Keep Us Here
Advanced Praise for Take What You Can Carry
“
Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read.
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love - a partner, a family, a homeland, a people - deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling till the final page.
Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
Advanced Praise for You Were Here
“Sardar's characters are well-developed and her prose is dreamlike, at times reading very much like poetry.... {T}his deftly executed study of the dark that lies in the human heart is artfully drawn."
- Kirkus Reviews
“[B]eautifully written…this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain."
- Library Journal
“[An] intricately plotted first novel … Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end.”
- Publisher's Weekly
“
“
Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes, and long-buried secrets.Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be.
“
What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel…Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!
A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary love story, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.
Jennifer McMahon, author of The Night Sister and The Winter People
“
A beautiful puzzle box of a book — a page-turner that manages to also be strikingly poetic. I was gripped from the very first page, and moved by the time I made it to the last.
Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
“
Prepare to be dazzled by hauntingly masterful storytelling! Packed with delicious prose and page-turning intrigue, You Were Here is a remarkable and unforgettable debut.
Valerie Martin, author of Mary Reilly and Property
“
A terrific debut that beautifully spins the tale of two love stories coiled together by longing, betrayal, and rage that unravel to a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion. Sardar is a writer to watch.
Janelle Brown, author of All We Wanted Was Everything
Susan Meissner, author of Secrets of a Charmed Life
Carla Buckley, author of The Good Goodbye and The Things That Keep Us Here
Advanced Praise for Take What You Can Carry
“
Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read.
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love - a partner, a family, a homeland, a people - deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling till the final page.
Lush and sensual and dangerous, Take What You Can Carry is an eye-opening story that deserves to be told. Gian Sardar's prose is breathtaking; and her book took me on a fascinating journey that I'd never before imagined. A true original.
“
“
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
“
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Jill Santopolo,
New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
“
With lush, vivid settings, Take What You Can Carry is a story of love and family, and of the heartbreaking power of returning home to the place that knows you best.” —Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
Janelle Brown,
New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear
“
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
Advanced Praise for You Were Here
“Sardar's characters are well-developed and her prose is dreamlike, at times reading very much like poetry.... {T}his deftly executed study of the dark that lies in the human heart is artfully drawn."
- Kirkus Reviews
“[B]eautifully written…this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain."
- Library Journal
“[An] intricately plotted first novel … Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end.”
- Publisher's Weekly
“
Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes, and long-buried secrets.Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be.
“
What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel…Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!
“
A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary love story, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.
Jennifer McMahon, author of The Night Sister and The Winter People
“
A beautiful puzzle box of a book — a page-turner that manages to also be strikingly poetic. I was gripped from the very first page, and moved by the time I made it to the last.
Janelle Brown, author of All We Wanted Was Everything
Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
“
Prepare to be dazzled by hauntingly masterful storytelling! Packed with delicious prose and page-turning intrigue, You Were Here is a remarkable and unforgettable debut.
Susan Meissner, author of Secrets of a Charmed Life
Valerie Martin, author of Mary Reilly and Property
“
A terrific debut that beautifully spins the tale of two love stories coiled together by longing, betrayal, and rage that unravel to a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion. Sardar is a writer to watch.
Carla Buckley, author of The Good Goodbye and The Things That Keep Us Here
Advanced Praise for Take What You Can Carry
“
Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read.
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love - a partner, a family, a homeland, a people - deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling till the final page.
Lush and sensual and dangerous, Take What You Can Carry is an eye-opening story that deserves to be told. Gian Sardar's prose is breathtaking; and her book took me on a fascinating journey that I'd never before imagined. A true original.
“
“
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
“
Jill Santopolo,
New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
“
With lush, vivid settings, Take What You Can Carry is a story of love and family, and of the heartbreaking power of returning home to the place that knows you best.” —Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
“
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Advanced Praise for You Were Here
“Sardar's characters are well-developed and her prose is dreamlike, at times reading very much like poetry.... {T}his deftly executed study of the dark that lies in the human heart is artfully drawn."
- Kirkus Reviews
“[B]eautifully written…this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain."
- Library Journal
“[An] intricately plotted first novel … Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end.”
- Publisher's Weekly
“
Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes, and long-buried secrets.Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be.
“
What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel…Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!
“
A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary love story, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.
Jennifer McMahon, author of The Night Sister and The Winter People
“
A beautiful puzzle box of a book — a page-turner that manages to also be strikingly poetic. I was gripped from the very first page, and moved by the time I made it to the last.
Janelle Brown, author of All We Wanted Was Everything
Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
“
Prepare to be dazzled by hauntingly masterful storytelling! Packed with delicious prose and page-turning intrigue, You Were Here is a remarkable and unforgettable debut.
Susan Meissner, author of Secrets of a Charmed Life
Valerie Martin, author of Mary Reilly and Property
“
A terrific debut that beautifully spins the tale of two love stories coiled together by longing, betrayal, and rage that unravel to a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion. Sardar is a writer to watch.
Carla Buckley, author of The Good Goodbye and The Things That Keep Us Here
Advanced Praise for Take What You Can Carry
Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read.
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love - a partner, a family, a homeland, a people - deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling till the final page.
Jill Santopolo,
New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
With lush, vivid settings, Take What You Can Carry is a story of love and family, and of the heartbreaking power of returning home to the place that knows you best.” —Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
Lush and sensual and dangerous, Take What You Can Carry is an eye-opening story that deserves to be told. Gian Sardar's prose is breathtaking; and her book took me on a fascinating journey that I'd never before imagined. A true original.
Janelle Brown,
New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear
“Take What You Can Carry is that rare dream of a novel that transports readers to a time and place—late 1970s Kurdistan, Iraq—with the power and immediacy of a lush perfume. Sardar delivers a high-stakes love story between a Kurdish immigrant turned Hollywood actor and a fierce aspiring photojournalist that uncovers the burden and blessing of family, ambition, and privilege during times of political upheaval. A thoroughly modern journey to the recent past, this novel is an aching pleasure, a revelation.”
Yoojin Grace Wuertz,
author of Everything Belongs to Us
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Advanced Praise for You Were Here
“[B]eautifully written…this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain."
- Library Journal
“[An] intricately plotted first novel … Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end.”
- Publisher's Weekly
Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes, and long-buried secrets.Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be.
What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel…Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!
A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary love story, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.
Jennifer McMahon, author of The Night Sister and The Winter People
“
A beautiful puzzle box of a book — a page-turner that manages to also be strikingly poetic. I was gripped from the very first page, and moved by the time I made it to the last.
Janelle Brown, author of All We Wanted Was Everything
Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
“
Prepare to be dazzled by hauntingly masterful storytelling! Packed with delicious prose and page-turning intrigue, You Were Here is a remarkable and unforgettable debut.
Susan Meissner, author of Secrets of a Charmed Life
Valerie Martin, author of Mary Reilly and Property
“
A terrific debut that beautifully spins the tale of two love stories coiled together by longing, betrayal, and rage that unravel to a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion. Sardar is a writer to watch.
Carla Buckley, author of The Good Goodbye and The Things That Keep Us Here
Advanced Praise for Take What You Can Carry
Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read.
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love - a partner, a family, a homeland, a people - deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling till the final page.
Lush and sensual and dangerous, Take What You Can Carry is an eye-opening story that deserves to be told. Gian Sardar's prose is breathtaking; and her book took me on a fascinating journey that I'd never before imagined. A true original.
Jill Santopolo,
New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
With lush, vivid settings, Take What You Can Carry is a story of love and family, and of the heartbreaking power of returning home to the place that knows you best.” —Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
Julie Clark,
New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
Janelle Brown,
New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear
“Take What You Can Carry is that rare dream of a novel that transports readers to a time and place—late 1970s Kurdistan, Iraq—with the power and immediacy of a lush perfume. Sardar delivers a high-stakes love story between a Kurdish immigrant turned Hollywood actor and a fierce aspiring photojournalist that uncovers the burden and blessing of family, ambition, and privilege during times of political upheaval. A thoroughly modern journey to the recent past, this novel is an aching pleasure, a revelation.”
Yoojin Grace Wuertz,
author of Everything Belongs to Us
“Set forth in vivid, propulsive writing, Take What You Can Carry is a love story that is also a love song to the Kurdish people and an adventure tale that balances the risks of ambition with the costs of responsibility. Blending romance and near history, Gian Sardar has produced a tale filled with indelible images and characters one comes to know as family. A rich and satisfying read.”
Meg Howrey, author of The Wanderers
Take What You Can Carry is a beautifully crafted, heartrending portrait of the disparate worlds of America and Kurdistan in the 1970s woven together with an epic love story that is rich, tragic, compelling, and realized with deep care and insight. Powerful and moving
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
“Take What You Can Carry is a heart-wrenching journey of understanding between two worlds as foreign as they are familiar that will change everything you thought you knew about Iraq.
Kristin Fields, author of A Lily in the Light and A Frenzy of Sparks
Advanced Praise for You Were Here
“Sardar's characters are well-developed and her prose is dreamlike, at times reading very much like poetry.... {T}his deftly executed study of the dark that lies in the human heart is artfully drawn."
- Kirkus Reviews
“[B]eautifully written…this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain."
- Library Journal
“[An] intricately plotted first novel … Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end.”
- Publisher's Weekly
Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes, and long-buried secrets.Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be.
What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel…Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!
Jennifer McMahon, author of The Night Sister and The Winter People
A beautiful puzzle box of a book — a page-turner that manages to also be strikingly poetic. I was gripped from the very first page, and moved by the time I made it to the last.
Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
Prepare to be dazzled by hauntingly masterful storytelling! Packed with delicious prose and page-turning intrigue, You Were Here is a remarkable and unforgettable debut.
Janelle Brown, author of All We Wanted Was Everything
Susan Meissner, author of Secrets of a Charmed Life
A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary love story, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.
Valerie Martin, author of Mary Reilly and Property
A terrific debut that beautifully spins the tale of two love stories coiled together by longing, betrayal, and rage that unravel to a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion. Sardar is a writer to watch.
Carla Buckley, author of The Good Goodbye and The Things That Keep Us Here
Advanced Praise for Take What You Can Carry
Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read.
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love - a partner, a family, a homeland, a people - deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling till the final page.
Lush and sensual and dangerous, Take What You Can Carry is an eye-opening story that deserves to be told. Gian Sardar's prose is breathtaking; and her book took me on a fascinating journey that I'd never before imagined. A true original.
Jill Santopolo,
New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
With lush, vivid settings, Take What You Can Carry is a story of love and family, and of the heartbreaking power of returning home to the place that knows you best.” —Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
Julie Clark,
New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
Janelle Brown,
New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear
“Take What You Can Carry is that rare dream of a novel that transports readers to a time and place—late 1970s Kurdistan, Iraq—with the power and immediacy of a lush perfume. Sardar delivers a high-stakes love story between a Kurdish immigrant turned Hollywood actor and a fierce aspiring photojournalist that uncovers the burden and blessing of family, ambition, and privilege during times of political upheaval. A thoroughly modern journey to the recent past, this novel is an aching pleasure, a revelation.”
Yoojin Grace Wuertz,
author of Everything Belongs to Us
“Set forth in vivid, propulsive writing, Take What You Can Carry is a love story that is also a love song to the Kurdish people and an adventure tale that balances the risks of ambition with the costs of responsibility. Blending romance and near history, Gian Sardar has produced a tale filled with indelible images and characters one comes to know as family. A rich and satisfying read.”
Meg Howrey, author of The Wanderers
Take What You Can Carry is a beautifully crafted, heartrending portrait of the disparate worlds of America and Kurdistan in the 1970s woven together with an epic love story that is rich, tragic, compelling, and realized with deep care and insight. Powerful and moving
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
“Take What You Can Carry is a heart-wrenching journey of understanding between two worlds as foreign as they are familiar that will change everything you thought you knew about Iraq.
Kristin Fields, author of A Lily in the Light and A Frenzy of Sparks
Advanced Praise for You Were Here
“Sardar's characters are well-developed and her prose is dreamlike, at times reading very much like poetry.... {T}his deftly executed study of the dark that lies in the human heart is artfully drawn."
- Kirkus Reviews
“[B]eautifully written…this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain."
- Library Journal
“[An] intricately plotted first novel … Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end.”
- Publisher's Weekly
Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes, and long-buried secrets.Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be.
What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel…Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!
Jennifer McMahon, author of The Night Sister and The Winter People
Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary love story, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.
Valerie Martin, author of Mary Reilly and Property
Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read.
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it’s by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel.”
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love - a partner, a family, a homeland, a people - deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling till the final page.
Lush and sensual and dangerous, Take What You Can Carry is an eye-opening story that deserves to be told. Gian Sardar's prose is breathtaking; and her book took me on a fascinating journey that I'd never before imagined. A true original.
Jill Santopolo,
New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
With lush, vivid settings, Take What You Can Carry is a story of love and family, and of the heartbreaking power of returning home to the place that knows you best.” —Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
Julie Clark,
New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
Janelle Brown,
New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear
“Take What You Can Carry is that rare dream of a novel that transports readers to a time and place—late 1970s Kurdistan, Iraq—with the power and immediacy of a lush perfume. Sardar delivers a high-stakes love story between a Kurdish immigrant turned Hollywood actor and a fierce aspiring photojournalist that uncovers the burden and blessing of family, ambition, and privilege during times of political upheaval. A thoroughly modern journey to the recent past, this novel is an aching pleasure, a revelation.”
Yoojin Grace Wuertz,
author of Everything Belongs to Us
“Set forth in vivid, propulsive writing, Take What You Can Carry is a love story that is also a love song to the Kurdish people and an adventure tale that balances the risks of ambition with the costs of responsibility. Blending romance and near history, Gian Sardar has produced a tale filled with indelible images and characters one comes to know as family. A rich and satisfying read.”
Meg Howrey, author of The Wanderers
Take What You Can Carry is a beautifully crafted, heartrending portrait of the disparate worlds of America and Kurdistan in the 1970s woven together with an epic love story that is rich, tragic, compelling, and realized with deep care and insight. Powerful and moving
Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
“Take What You Can Carry is a heart-wrenching journey of understanding between two worlds as foreign as they are familiar that will change everything you thought you knew about Iraq.
Kristin Fields, author of A Lily in the Light and A Frenzy of Sparks
Advanced Praise for You Were Here
“Sardar's characters are well-developed and her prose is dreamlike, at times reading very much like poetry.... {T}his deftly executed study of the dark that lies in the human heart is artfully drawn."
- Kirkus Reviews
“[B]eautifully written…this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain."
- Library Journal
“[An] intricately plotted first novel … Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end.”
- Publisher's Weekly
Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes, and long-buried secrets.Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be.
What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel…Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!
Jennifer McMahon, author of The Night Sister and The Winter People
A beautiful puzzle box of a book — a page-turner that manages to also be strikingly poetic. I was gripped from the very first page, and moved by the time I made it to the last.
Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
Prepare to be dazzled by hauntingly masterful storytelling! Packed with delicious prose and page-turning intrigue, You Were Here is a remarkable and unforgettable debut.
A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary love story, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.
Valerie Martin, author of Mary Reilly and Property
A terrific debut that beautifully spins the tale of two love stories coiled together by longing, betrayal, and rage that unravel to a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion. Sardar is a writer to watch.
Praise for Land of Dreams
"A fabled silver-screen romance, a murder that shocks the nation, and a protagonist caught in a world where nothing is what it seems, delivered with a clean, snappy prose that makes this one oh, so hard to put down. Gloriously researched, with twists aplenty, Land of Dreams is one of those delicious novels that offers something for everyone." --Barbara Davis, bestselling author of Every Precious and Fragile Thing
​
"Depression-era Hollywood comes alive in this noir-edged mystery that wears its heart on its sleeve. Land of Dreams is a compelling page-turner about ambition and myth-making, filled with heat and hope, glamour and vulnerability. Twisty, lush, and romantic." --Meg Howrey, author of They're Going to Love You
​
"Forbidden love swirled with oh-so-sympathetic characters with mysterious pasts, who could ask for more? This breathtaking tale set in Old Hollywood dazzles with sparkling prose. Propulsive and immersive, the clever plotting kept me on my toes. Come for the murder mystery, stay for the jaw-dropping descriptions of life in Hollywood's Golden Age. What a ride!" --Susan Walter, bestselling author of Good as Dead
"Brimming with heartache and hope, Land of Dreams is a love letter to Los Angeles and the people who call it home. Gian Sardar's evocative prose and perfectly paced storytelling bring the city and its history to life with mystery and a touch of romance in a very intimate and haunting look at the American dream." --Liz Parker, author of Witches of Honeysuckle House
Praise for When the World Goes Quiet
"Most of all, the novel examines human survival, love, and loyalty in a time of war in an occupied area with a shortage of resources and denial of services by the oppressors...The inclusion of art, paintings, and other artifacts adds appeal to the story and plot. Highly recommended." --Historical Novels Review
​
"Sardar paints an intimate portrait of a passionate young woman--Evelien, an aspiring artist desperate for a future beyond domestic conventions--struggling to survive the last weeks of World War 1 in occupied Bruges. When the World Goes Quiet asks us to grapple with the difficult questions of what we owe each other of duty, love, and loyalty during times of unprecedented chaos and devastation. Sardar is a master weaver of electrifying unlikely allegiances--and shining hope in the darkest places. The payoff is unexpected and satisfying." --Yoojin Grace Wuertz, author of Everything Belongs to Us
​
"When the World Goes Quiet is a gripping page-turner about the moral compromises of life in a war zone, but it's also a delicate tapestry that captures how love and art can keep us alive inside devastation. Gian Sardar always writes with great lyrical beauty and emotional acuity, and this book is no exception. I loved it." --Janelle Brown, New York Timesbestselling author of I'll Be You and Pretty Things
​
"Masterfully crafted, When the World Goes Quiet draws you in from the first page and doesn't let go. 'In war, actions do not define the man...or the woman.' This story pits passion against devotion and loyalty against duty and does a brilliant job weaving a heartrending web between them. It is storytelling at its best--part history lesson, part survival story, part love story. Stunning." --Suzanne Redfearn, #1 Amazon bestselling author of In an Instant
​
"When the World Goes Quiet is a deeply romantic page-turner, a gorgeous and gripping tale of the complex bonds of love, loyalty, forgiveness, and compassion." --Meg Howrey, author of They're Going to Love You
​
"Gian Sardar's novel When the World Goes Quiet is a heart-wrenching, evocative tale of one extraordinary artist's life in German-occupied Bruges, Belgium, in the waning days of WWI. Readers will be rooting for the main character, Evelien, from the start, as she navigates the always dangerous and nearly impossible choices that must be made in the midst of war in order to survive. With immersive historical detail, well-crafted characters, and a captivating plot, this story has all the elements of great historical fiction." --Jane Healey, author of Goodnight from Paris
​
"Moving, riveting, romantic, and poignant, Gian Sardar's When the World Goes Quiet swept me away. It also allowed me to reflect on how brutalizing and dehumanizing war is--and how humanity seeks connection, solace, and truth among darkness and ruin. A beautiful novel." --Edan Lepucki, New York Times bestselling author of California and Time's Mouth
Praise for Take What You Can Carry
"This is an unforgettable story about war and family, responsibility and love, but Sardar also pays tribute to the priceless connections we forge at the most terrible moments...A heartbreaking story about war, family, and love." --Kirkus Reviews
​
"Olivia is a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper aspiring to be a photojournalist, so when her Kurdish boyfriend Delan is invited home to Iraq for a wedding, she sees tagging along as her chance to not only broaden her work, but to learn more about Delan's culture. In 1979, Iraq is plagued by war and when the trip proves to be even less safe than they anticipated, Olivia is confronted with a side of the world she's never experienced. But amid the war is beauty, family, and love--until Olivia captures a tragic moment and upends all of their lives." --Buzzfeed
​
"Timely, romantic, and thrilling from start to finish, Gian Sardar crafts a story with great beauty and heartbreak, reminding us the harder we work to truly know one another, the better we come to understand ourselves. Those of us who love books know this is exactly why we read." --Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor
​
"At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this story's magic is in the power its characters have to love--a partner, a family, a homeland, a people--deeply and unconditionally. I was gripped by Gian Sardar's emotional storytelling until the final page." --Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of More Than Words
​
"Lush and sensual and dangerous, Take What You Can Carry is an eye-opening story that deserves to be told. Gian Sardar's prose is breathtaking; and her book took me on a fascinating journey that I'd never before imagined. A true original." --Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear
​
"Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar is a beautifully written, absorbing novel that swept me away to 1979 Kurdistan and Los Angeles. Filled with richly drawn characters, it's by turns a love story and a war story, a coming-of-age and a tragedy, but ultimately a story about hope and the depth of family bonds. Lush, atmospheric, and gorgeous, this is an unforgettable novel." --Jillian Cantor, USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Letterand In Another Time
​
"With lush, vivid settings, Take What You Can Carry is a story of love and family, and of the heartbreaking power of returning home to the place that knows you best." --Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
​
"Take What You Can Carry is that rare dream of a novel that transports readers to a time and place--late 1970s Kurdistan, Iraq--with the power and immediacy of a lush perfume. Sardar delivers a high-stakes love story between a Kurdish immigrant turned Hollywood actor and a fierce aspiring photojournalist that uncovers the burden and blessing of family, ambition, and privilege during times of political upheaval. A thoroughly modern journey to the recent past, this novel is an aching pleasure, a revelation." --Yoojin Grace Wuertz, author of Everything Belongs to Us
​
"Take What You Can Carry is a poignant tale of love and loss, persecution and betrayal. Gian Sardar vividly portrays the heartbreak of two lovers swept up in a political turmoil that threatens to tear them apart as it rips at the fabric of the Kurdish way of life. It's both a sweeping love story and an epic adventure that will have you frantically turning pages while brushing away tears." --Bianca Marais, author of Hum If You Don't Know the Words and If You Want to Make God Laugh
​
"Set forth in vivid, propulsive writing, Take What You Can Carry is a love story that is also a love song to the Kurdish people and an adventure tale that balances the risks of ambition with the costs of responsibility. Blending romance and near history, Gian Sardar has produced a tale filled with indelible images and characters one comes to know as family. A rich and satisfying read." --Meg Howrey, author of The Wanderers
​
"Take What You Can Carry is a beautifully crafted, heartrending portrait of the disparate worlds of America and Kurdistan in the 1970s woven together with an epic love story that is rich, tragic, compelling, and realized with deep care and insight. Powerful and moving." --Suzanne Redfearn, bestselling author of In an Instant
​
"Take What You Can Carry is a heart-wrenching journey of understanding between two worlds as foreign as they are familiar that will change everything you thought you knew about Iraq." --Kristin Fields, author of A Lily in the Light and A Frenzy of Sparks
Praise for YOU WERE HERE
"Artfully weaving the past and present together, You Were Here is a stunning tapestry of a novel full of dreams, nightmares, horrific crimes and long-buried secrets. Gian Sardar shows us the ways in which the past can reach out and take hold of the present; that places and objects hold memories and time is not the linear thing we think it to be." —Jennifer McMahon, New York Times
​
bestselling author of The Night Sister"Sardar's characters are well-developed and her prose is dreamlike, at times reading very much like poetry. . . . [T]his deftly executed study of the dark that lies in the human heart is artfully drawn. An impressive . . . debut with a touch of the otherworldly." —Kirkus Reviews
"[B]eautifully written . . . this first novel will appeal to readers of Christina Schwarz and Diane Chamberlain." —Library Journal"
[An] intricately plotted first novel . . . Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end." —Publishers Weekly
"Prepare to be dazzled by hauntingly masterful storytelling! Packed with delicious prose and page-turning intrigue, You Were Here is a remarkable and unforgettable debut." —Susan Meissner, author of Secrets of a Charmed Life
"You Were Here is a beautiful puzzle box of a book—a page-turner that manages to also be strikingly poetic. I was gripped from the very first page, and moved by the time I made it to the last." —Janelle Brown, bestselling author of All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
"Sardar creates a suspenseful tale sure to keep readers entertained … The characters are intriguing; Sardar does well at developing them and unfolding them at the right time to reveal just enough to hold readers attention. You Were Here is a unique read that does not disappoint." —RT Book Review
“A nail-biting thriller, a tragic love story from the past, a very contemporary romance, a genuinely scary ghost story with a full-out gothic finale that would make Edgar Allen Poe sit up and applaud—Gian Sardar has confidently and seamlessly woven all these genres into a novel that is completely original and relentlessly engaging. You Were Here is a bravura, genre-busting performance.” —Valerie Martin, award-winning author of Mary Reilly and Property
"What if love is so powerful that it gives us access to mysterious unseen worlds? This question is at the heart of Gian Sardar’s dizzying and seductive debut novel. As I was reading You Were Here, I kept wondering about the nature—and value—of love, marriage, and the complex space between. Modern and timeless, part thrilling detective story, part ghost story, part love story, Sardar’s debut is an evocative literary cocktail. I couldn’t put it down!" —Sari Wilson, author of Girl Through Glass
“You Were Here is a terrific debut that beautifully spins the tale of two love stories—one set in the past and the other in the present—coiled together by longing, betrayal, and rage that unravel to a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion. Gian Sardar is a writer to watch.” —Carla Buckley, author of The Good Goodbye and The Things That Keep Us Here
BIO
Gian Sardar was born in Los Angeles, California. Her father was from Kurdistan of Iraq, and her mother is Belgian American and from Minnesota. She studied creative writing at Loyola Marymount University and is the author of the novels When the World Goes Quiet, Take What You Can Carry, and You Were Here and is coauthor of the memoir Psychic Junkie. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Literary Hub, Confrontation Magazine, and Salon.com, among other places. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son, and she enjoys gardening, cooking, and other forms of procrastination.
