The New Angel is the moving story of Bahram and Fereshteh (Persian for 'angel') growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and the Iran- Iraq war. At its centre this is a love story between two adolescents at odds with the society in which they live and of the ways in which our lives can be changed forever by external events over which we have no control. The author lived in Iran until the age of 14 before immigrating to Australia. The result is a novel that is hugely evocative and that indirectly conveys through story the destructive impact of fundamentalism on the individual.

Alizadeh writes superbly of the pains and beauties of adolescence and the devastating ways in which catastrophic events can shape out thoughts and actions. Bahram and Fereshteh capture our hearts, and ultimately break them. The New Angel engages and disturbs the reader as it moves with suspense and purpose towards its startling climax.