mengestu's début novel, "the beautiful things that heaven bears", was published in the united states in march 2007 by penguin riverhead. it was published in the united kingdom as "children of the revolution", issued in may 2007 by jonathan cape. it tells the story of sepha stephanos, who fled the warfare of the ethiopian revolution 17 years before and immigrated to the united states. he owns and runs a failing grocery store in logan circle, then a poor african-american section of washington, d.c. that is becoming gentrified. he and two fellow african immigrants, all of them single, deal with feelings of isolation and nostalgia for home. stephanos becomes involved with a white woman and her daughter, who move into a renovated house in the neighborhood.