Bone Worship

Eslami's clumsy debut attempts to unsnarl the relationships that paralyze a dysfunctional Iranian-American family living in Arrowhead, Ga. When Jasmine Fahroodhi flunks out of the University of Chicago just shy of graduation, her parents bring her home to marry her off. Even though her aloof doctor father, Yusef, married an American instead of the bride his parents chose for him, he wants Jasmine's marriage to be arranged. Jasmine's endlessly cheerful former cheerleader mother, Margaret, embraces “Plan B” with a startling zeal, though Jasmine's youthful angst leads her to vacillate between passivity and sudden outbursts of sarcasm as she submits to a series of interminable dinners with a parade of unsuitable suitors. Unfortunately, Eslami loses her footing in the last third of the book when Yusef encounters vague but troubling medical problems, Jasmine finally finds something to care about in a new job and the perfect man with a mysterious past enters the scene. Things end peachily, but the facile resolution and tepid finale feel as forced as put-upon Jasmine's feel-good turnaround. (Jan.)