Review by Liz Dexter
“That’s just how I am. Hollow and spoiled and unlikeable. That’s how my whole family is. My aunt always says, ‘We didn’t come here for a better life. We left a better life.’”
A remarkable and memorable novel: I found myself unable resist this multi-generational tale of family secrets and migration, set in Iran and the US. Featuring five women, three generations, two countries and a load of family secrets, it opens with one of the middle generation of the female narrators of this book being arrested for prostitution in Aspen. We follow this Persian family back and forth through history and family secrets in a gossipy, surprising and lively novel which is entirely female-centric, men only serving as providers and objects.
In a refreshing change from common narratives of struggle, the immigrants to America are well-off, privileged and entitled. Indeed, one of them wants to embrace the very modern trope of giving away her inherited fortune. Meanwhile, those left at home in Iran, matriarch Elizabeth and her granddaughter Niaz, have a different life from what one might imagine, Elizabeth seemingly inventing aerobics as only one of her creative solutions, and Niaz running bohemian parties in various parts of Tehran.
The other characters are Shirin, Niaz’s mother, who is at the centre of the narrative, bossy, flamboyant and controlling; her sister narrates from beyond the grave and niece Bita is trying to find her own way, with help from a friend.
Set in Los Angeles, Aspen, Houston, New York and Tehran, there’s much to enjoy here, even though none of the characters are particularly attractive. It’s a polished effort, with sophisticated plotting and doubling (buying bras, bags of jewels, bare feet …) showing the author’s technical skills. This is an author who I will continue to look out for, as I loved the reversals of traditional narratives and the centring of women in particular.
Liz Dexter has never been to Aspen or indeed Tehran, but she appreciates a narrative of diaspora and migration. She blogs at https://www.librofulltime.wordpress.com.
Sanam Mahloudji – The Persians, Fourth Estate, 978-0008589066 (pb), 384pp.
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