Reviews with content warning for Rape - Women Without Men: A Novel of Modern Iran

This book is incredible. Definitely my favourite I've read in a long time. The magical realism combined with the insight into the lives of several women was executed so well. The book does not shy from the taboo, instead laying it bare. There is no attempt to seek to portray perfection within the women, they are just that -women. I absolutely adored the imagery.

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sarah984's review

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challenging informative slow-paced

3.0

The book was more interesting to me due to the fact of its publishing and what the author had to go through than the actual book (though the endnotes in my copy about the real-life people she had based the characters on were fascinating as well).

This is a series of interconnected magical realism short stories about the ways that women are oppressed in Iran (and elsewhere). A woman is fired from her job after refusing advances from her boss. A woman is murdered by her brother because she left the house without his permission. Two women are attacked on the road for the crime of being unaccompanied women who want to explore the world. A woman who had been sold into prostitution as a teenager starts having strange visions. A woman with big dreams accidentally kills her awful husband in what she thinks is self-defence. They are all eventually drawn to the same place where they live together briefly and then all go their separate ways. The ending kind of disappointed me for that reason. I was hoping to see them find a new way together but they couldn't get along.

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lizcaruth's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

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sidrajaved's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This was good. I am not a huge fan of magical realism but this was a surprise. I am not going to comment on the writing because this is a translation. The story follows 5 women & we follow each of their stories through different chapters. Then, their lives intersect later in the book. They all have their separate endings that weren't really satisfying for me. But, yes, I'd definitely recommend this. Also, I don't know about other translations but this one was approved by Shahrnush Parsipur.

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