The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

What is it about?

1953 in Iran: Teenagers Roya and Bahman meet at a stationery shop in Tehran and instantly connect over their shared love for the Persian poet Rumi. But their young love is put to the test as the country is swept up in political turmoil.

OK, but what is it really about?

Roya loves nothing more than to spend her time in Mr. Fakhri’s stationery shop. When she first locks eyes with Bahman, she is immediately drawn to his passion and youthful energy, his dreams of a better future for Iran. But as their love blossoms, their country is torn apart by a coup d’etat: the overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, orchestrated by the CIA, to strengthen the rule of the Shah - a conflict that ended in violence and left hundreds of people dead.

Is it any good?

I bought this book because I was interested to learn more about a part of world history that I - I’m ashamed to admit - knew almost nothing about. It’s fascinating to read about an Iran where fathers encourage their daughters to become the next Marie Curie or Helen Keller, where the young generation mingles at dance soirees and learn to tango and where a young boy is convinced he can change the world for the better.

I also bought this book because of my own love for stationery shops. Not unlike Roya, I can spend hours (and much more money than I should) in stationery shops, looking at letter sets and pens, carefully selecting postcards and stickers, lovingly leafing through notebooks and other knick-knacks. So it is perhaps not surprising that when reading this story, I felt like I was wandering through Mr. Fakhri’s store myself, lingering behind the shelves, picking up a Rumi poetry book - waiting for the door to burst open and let fate run its course.

At its core, this novel is about love and loss, family loyalty and regret, longing and belonging, cleverly interwoven with an eventful period on the history of Iran. It’s an engaging read, beautifully written by Marjan Kamali, an Iranian-American who has spent her childhood in Turkey, Kenya, Germany, Iran and the United States. The characters are relatable, although they all seem to be incredibly patient and kind - even the villains in this story are not malicious by nature, but by circumstance.

Favorite character?

Marjan Kamali pays tribute to her father in the acknowledgments of the book with these loving words: “Above all, I want to thank my father, who spent hours talking to me about the city of his adolescence and its cafes, cinemas, demonstrations and dances. He drew maps of old Tehran, explained history and geography, told me stories of poets and politicians, and amazed me with his knowledge and memory. Finishing this book brought me even closer to him and everything was worth it just for that. It was all an excuse to hear your voice, dear Parpie. It was all because of you.”

The love, warmth and kindness that live in these words can also be found in one of the book’s characters: Baba, Roya’s father, who was perhaps inspired by the author’s own father. Baba is an idealistic, progressive man who dreams about democracy for his country and a successful education for his two daughters - something I’d presume was rather uncommon in Iran in the 1950s. His hope for a better future is infectious, his love and compassion for his family second to none. As Roya moves to the US to finally get the education her father had always wanted for her, Baba is more and more sidelined. It’s the natural course of life: children leave their parents to lead their own lives. But as a reader, I missed Baba’s calming presence. I’m sure Roya did, too.

Most memorable quote?

“It is a love from which we never recover.”

Conclusion? (*spoilers ahead*)

Personally, I liked the part of the story set in Tehran better than Roya’s later years in the US. The author is at her best when she gently leads her readers through life in Iran. She paints such a vivid picture of the city - a picture so different from today’s image of Iran - that I simply felt like there were so many more corners of the city left to explore, so many more customs and traditions to discover, so many more dishes to be cooked, and so many more aspects of the country’s history to learn about.

Having said that, I didn’t mind following Roya all the way to New England, although the huge time gap at the end felt a little bit rushed: in one chapter, she is a young mother suffering through a tragic loss, and in the next, we meet her as an old woman, in the last stage of her life. What happened in those missing years? I would have liked to read more about Roya’s unbreakable bond with her sister Zari, her family life with Walter and Kyle, her longing for her parents and for her home country, which never really fades, regardless of how many years one spends abroad.

And of course, it is unbelievably heartbreaking to reunite the young lovers after a lifetime apart, only to have them torn apart again by death. But such is the cruelty and unpredictability of life - the only comfort I found in this ending was that Roya had the chance to made peace. After being tormented by doubt and uncertainty for so many years, after having learned to push away her pain and hide it, Roya finally gets the answer to the question that has - at least in the deepest, darkest corner of her heart - agonizingly dominated her life. In the end, she is able to forgive. She is at peace with herself. And I guess that is all anyone can ask for.

AT A GLANCE

Title: The Stationery Shop of Tehran

Author: Marjan Kamali

Published by: Simon & Schuster (2019)

Pages: 312

Language: English