First Rule of Fire by Rebecca Gopoian
Compelling and heartfelt, First Rule of Fire explores the interconnected stories of three members of the Gazarian family, spanning decades and continents as they seek safety, love, and belonging.
Meet Jivan, a young teen who narrowly escapes his village in Eastern Turkey in 1915, as the Armenian Genocide gains momentum, ultimately claiming the lives of over 1.5 million people. Jumping forward to 1928, we witness a day in the life of Araxie, Jivan’s future wife, determined to transform her traumatic past into a hopeful present as she navigates new motherhood, a new marriage, and a new culture in America. Finally, we get to know Miriam, the half-Armenian, half-Jewish grandchild of Jivan and Araxie, as she stumbles into puberty in 1980s New Jersey, haunted by the overlapping but unspoken histories on both sides of her family.
At times dark and painful but still alight with hopeful moments, First Rule of Fire demonstrates, through one family’s legacy of resilience, that history can never be fully erased, however much it is denied.
Praise for the Book
“The prose in this novel dazzles and sings with a lyrical clarity all its own. The story itself and its interweaving between how the past lives on into the future is as compelling as you’re likely to find. On all levels—the writing, the characters, the sequence of interrelated events—this is a book hard to put down, a book that had to be written.” — Peter Markus, When Our Fathers Return to Us as Birds
“Sweeping across timelines, First Rule of Fire sends us on a voyage of memory, loss, and innocence. The short chapters seem to burst from one moment to the next with tenderness, pain, and warmth. First Rule of Fire tells us that no matter our past, the love of family can mend what has been lost.” ― Aida Zilelian, All the Ways We Lied
“Gopoian masterfully balances past and present as she explores intergenerational trauma—and healing—in an Armenian diaspora family. First Rule of Fire is a bold assertion of life in the face of a violent history.” ― Ben Nadler, Prairie Ashes
Rebecca Gopoian received her MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of a poetry chapbook, Terrible Person, and a book-length poem, Two, about becoming a mother for the second time. Rebecca lives in Queens and teaches English at Hostos Community College in the Bronx. First Rule of Fire is her first novel.
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The opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the author and do not represent an official position of the International Armenian Literary Alliance.