Women of Iran, Part Two
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 6/18/2007
Following the first wave of fiction and memoir by Iranian women—marked by 2003's Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi—a second movement is afoot, seen in these new and forthcoming novels. —Lynn Andriani
| The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani (Little, Brown, June) | Caspian Rain by Gina B. Nahai (MacAdam/Cage, Sept.) | The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer (Ecco, Aug.) | |
| About the Author: | Born in Tehran, 1961; now lives in San Francisco | Born in Tehran, 1960; now lives in L.A. | Born in Tehran, 1972; now lives in New York City |
| Setting: | 17th-century Iran | Iran 10 years before the Islamic revolution | Tehran during the aftermath of the 1979 revolution |
| Plot: | A young female rug designer is pressured into a secret marriage. | An Iranian Jewish girl, facing impending deafness, tries to prevent the breakup of her family. | A family must escape Iran after the father faces persecution. |
| Excerpt: | “I had never before accepted food from a strange man's hand. 'No need to be shy,' said Fereydoon.... 'We are man and wife.' ” | “They feed Bahar homemade sweets and cherry syrup, paint her hands and feet with henna, give her advice on how to conduct herself in her husband's bed....” | “ 'Eat, you fools!' a guard bellows.... Utensils clatter. The rice is dry and tasteless, and undercooked lentils, thrown in like an afterthought, crack between Isaac's teeth.” |
