His '' The Sandcastle Girls '' ( 2012 ) is about the Armenian Genocide and its century-long denial by Turkey . The novel includes two stories in one : the story of Elizabeth Endicott and Armen Petrosian , lovers who meet in Syria during the genocide ; and the story of Laura Petrosian , their granddaughter , who after a century tries to understand why they were so silent about their youth , while her suburban existence is quite different from the violent setting in which her grandparents fell in love . According to USA Today , Bohjalian makes " a near-century-old event come to life in a way that will make readers gasp with shock that such a terrible event — Turkey 's determination to kill all the Armenians in their country — is such a small part of our knowledge of world history " . Oprah Winfrey chose it as a '' Book of the Week '' : " This rendering of one of history 's greatest ( and least known ) tragedies is a nuanced , sophisticated portrayal of what it means not only to endure but also to insist on hope "
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Chris Bohjalian