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A review by vanreads
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
5.0
This is a story of star crossed lovers in a little stationery bookshop set in the backdrop of the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran. For a short book, this packs a punch. I find a lot of books at this length to be quite sparse for details, but Marjan Kamali has built a rich story within 300 pages.
I can't say much to the history, since it's not something I knew about before reading this, but based on review from Iranian friends, they all seem to love and recommend it. What I gather from the book is that supporters of Mossadegh were pro-democracy, and others supported the Shah, the Iranian monarchy. The characters and their families in The Stationery Shop fall under different alliances to different degrees. Some more heavily involved, and others, less so, because they just want to take care of their family.
The two main characters, Roya and Bahman, meet around the time leading up to this upheaval. As their love story unfolds, so does the political unravelling. One day Bahman doesn't show up where they were supposed to meet, and Roya ends up moving to the states, and marries an American man.
I loved the history of this book and watching present day Roya think back to her immigration and adaptation to America. She loves her American husband, Walter, because he's simple. He cares for her. It's something that I've always found fascinating, the way an immigrant's live changes so drastically when they move, and how they carry such deep histories with them to their new home. These histories, that rarely get told to people they meet in their new home. In some ways, it makes me kind of sad to see these stories locked away, yet perhaps it provides comfort and safety to be able to live somewhere without worrying about the past. I really appreciated seeing Walter and Roya's relationship unfold as well, because it explores a different dynamic than the one between Roya and Bahman. I found the exploration of the inter-cultural relationship between Walter and Roya really well explored, more-so than other books I've read.
Anyways, love this book and would recommend it!
I can't say much to the history, since it's not something I knew about before reading this, but based on review from Iranian friends, they all seem to love and recommend it. What I gather from the book is that supporters of Mossadegh were pro-democracy, and others supported the Shah, the Iranian monarchy. The characters and their families in The Stationery Shop fall under different alliances to different degrees. Some more heavily involved, and others, less so, because they just want to take care of their family.
The two main characters, Roya and Bahman, meet around the time leading up to this upheaval. As their love story unfolds, so does the political unravelling. One day Bahman doesn't show up where they were supposed to meet, and Roya ends up moving to the states, and marries an American man.
I loved the history of this book and watching present day Roya think back to her immigration and adaptation to America. She loves her American husband, Walter, because he's simple. He cares for her. It's something that I've always found fascinating, the way an immigrant's live changes so drastically when they move, and how they carry such deep histories with them to their new home. These histories, that rarely get told to people they meet in their new home. In some ways, it makes me kind of sad to see these stories locked away, yet perhaps it provides comfort and safety to be able to live somewhere without worrying about the past. I really appreciated seeing Walter and Roya's relationship unfold as well, because it explores a different dynamic than the one between Roya and Bahman. I found the exploration of the inter-cultural relationship between Walter and Roya really well explored, more-so than other books I've read.
Anyways, love this book and would recommend it!