Migration and diaspora are arguably the most written about cultural phenomena of the early twenty-first century. Where are cultural purity and authenticity to be found? What happens to the migrant forced to leave his/her first nation behind? In an age of unusual cross-cultural connections, can a non-native acquire the characteristics and affiliations of a foreign culture? Imagining Persia probes these questions of identity through two people's stories - an eastern woman and a western man. Born next to the Persian Gulf, May is transplanted to India, later to England, before moving back to the Gulf, on the Arabian side.