Author: Marjan Kamali
Genre: Historical Fiction
First published June 18, 2019
Book description: Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.
Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.
A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?
Review:
Two timelines are told here- One is happening in Tehran in 1953 showing us how Roya and Bahman. Their meeting, u and downs, etc. From the start, you know that it ended badly as the second timeline takes place sixty years later in USA.
Bahman has never been able to fully let go of the boy she so desperately loved in her youth, always wondering what he is doing and how his life turned out after he crushed her heart. We follow her as she navigates her life with the conviction that he played with her heart.
It's heart-wrenching, annoying, and predictable. You are reading and the clues are all there. As the story of their youth unfolds, it's pretty obvious what happened, but she has lived so long with the version she has told herself over and over that she takes s a long time to acknowledge the truth once she comes face to face.
It's designed to be a tear-jerker and you can't put the book down.
It has a good example of how mental illness was treated in the 50ies. As something to hide and be ashamed of, people didn't know how to handle it, and that led to not great decisions. You did what you could with the little understanding and information you had available at the time.
The social construct was very different in the different countries Tehran and USA. The move from one place to the other was even more jarring back then. Being an immigrant was harder, people around were more openly discriminatory and looked down on foreign customs (food, traditions, religion, and even superstitions). The way foreigners were treated was very different, and those who had that attitude did not see it as an issue.
We have plenty of personal growth and show that other people can grow old and die very et in their ideals, be it wrong or not.
It has a whole lot of emotions, its a nice rollercoaster, I loved it!
Normally I do not love historical fiction but I am finding my niche now. I recommend this book to those people looking for a nice love story, with soap opera plot twists and reveals.
Be aware the ending was not what I wanted and yet it fits so perfectly.
Challenge:
Around the world- Turkey
Comments