A Girl in an Empty House

“They’re gone,” I hear someone say. “Your mother, they all left. Did you know?” The door opens without resistance. They didn’t even bother to lock; they never did. Doors are never locked here, not in this apartment nor any other. Who would steal anything here? There is nothing to take.

Born in a rural desert town to a family of Persian immigrants, Miriam was twelve years old the first time she had three meals in one day.

The tenth daughter of twelve siblings, she was raised so far away from anyone who might care that there was no one around to see her endure the debilitating malnourishment that first brought her close to death before she was school age. Or the violent outbursts of her physically and verbally abusive father. Or the unrelenting, wall-to-wall poverty that fueled their desperate lives.

But it all came to a startling, unimaginable point when Miriam returned home from summer camp, only to find the front door ajar. Entering the bedroom she shared with nine other children, she discovers the furniture is all gone. No food. No note. Just a girl in an empty house.

Impoverished and isolated, Miriam realizes that all she had endured up to this moment was just the beginning. If she wants to survive, she will have to choose between following her family—or following her heart. As she begins to work toward a better future, she also embarks on a journey that will help her reclaim her self-worth and identity—as a mother, as a partner, and as a woman.

Powerful, compelling, and tear-invokingly emotional, A Girl in an Empty House tells a one-of-a-kind story of perseverance and grit. Like Tara Westover and Amy Griffin before her, Miriam’s journey towards womanhood is as unforgettable as it is iconic.