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The Stationery Shop

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The Stationery Shop

By: Marjan Kamali
Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
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About this listen

 From the New York Times bestselling author of Together Tea and The Lion Women of Tehran, a poignant, "powerful" (The Wall Street Journal) and "affecting novel about first love" (Real Simple) that explores loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate.

Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.

Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me? Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Women's Fiction World Literature Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Iran

Critic reviews

"Mozhan Marnò gives an extraordinary narration of this audiobook, set mainly in 1950s Iran and the U.S. Raised by progressive Iranian parents, Roya meets Bahman, an activist student, at a Tehran stationery shop. They are planning to marry when Bahman mysteriously disappears. Roya moves to California where she studies science and marries the caring Walter. Sixty years later, Roya seeks answers to what happened to Bahman. Marnò's expressive narration reveals every nuance of Roya's emotional journey, as well as the complexity of loving her husband while mourning Bahman. Marnò slows the story when the moment demands that listeners take a breath to fully experience Roya's feelings. Sensitive portrayals of Roya's family and friends, and vivid descriptions of Iranian food and customs, add depth to this moving listen."
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