Set in the 1990s, Roseheart is a story about family told through the sardonic voice of Valerie Kjos. She’s a young Midwestern Gen X’er whose life is just barely coming together with her boyfriend when his Iranian mother, Goli, comes for a visit that seems like it will never end. Valerie will have to decide what’s more important to her—staying true to herself, or appeasing Goli, who might not approve if she knew everything about her. But as Valerie is about to learn, the mother of her beloved Naveed has secrets of her own.

Catherine Dehdashti has been an essayist, food writer, and communications professional for nearly 20 years.  The role cooking and humor can play in connecting people, especially women of different generations and cultures, inspired her to write Roseheart, her debut novel. Her own Iranian mother-in-law became a transformational figure in her life, starting in the kitchen. Dehdashti has written for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Midwest Living, Iranian.com, the Minnesota Daily, and many other publications. She lives in Eagan, Minnesota with her husband and their two children.