The Stationery Shop of Tehran
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The Stationery Shop of Tehran
Narrated by:
Mozhan Marnò
Buy Now for £13.64
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Narrated by:
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Mozhan Marnò
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By:
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Marjan Kamali
About this listen
1953, Tehran. In a small shop in a country on the brink of unrest, two people meet for the very first time.
Roya loves nothing better than to while away the hours in the stationery shop run by Mr Fakhri. The store, stocked with fountain pens, shiny ink bottles, and thick wads of writing paper, also carries translations of literature from all over the world. Bahman, with his burning passion for justice, is like no one else she has ever met.
But all around them, as their relationship blossoms, life in Tehran is changing.
Suddenly, shockingly, violence erupts: a coup d'etat that forever changes their country's future, as well as their own.
Marjan Kamali's beautiful novel explores themes of love and loss, and delivers and unforgettable ending.
Critic reviews
'Travel back in time to the dusty streets of Tehran to meet two star-crossed lovers separated by the turbulent politics of the days when the Shah ruled supreme. An enchanting romance’
‘Simultaneously briskly paced and deeply moving, this will appeal to fans of Khaled Hosseini and should find a wide audience’
‘Evocative, devastating, and hauntingly beautiful… This book broke my heart again and again’ (Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light)
‘What a pleasure — a novel that is all at once masterfully plotted, beautifully written, and populated by characters who are arresting, lovable and so real’ (Elinor Lipman, author of Turpentine Lane)
‘A beautiful and sensitive novel that I loved from the first page’ (Alyson Richman, international bestselling author of The Lost Wife)
‘A beautifully immersive tale … brings to life a lost and complex world and the captivating characters who once called it home’ (Jasmin Darznik, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Daughter and Song of a Captive Bird)
‘A sweeping romantic tale of thwarted love’
‘The unfurling stories… will stun readers… For those who enjoy getting caught up in romance while discovering unfamiliar history of another country’
‘Grab your tissues'
‘A tender story of enduring love’
‘I! Am! Obsessed! With! This! Book!’
So beautiful
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In 1953 Iran was a relatively peaceful country whose young people looked to Western movies, music and styles for inspiration. However, the country was exploited by the British and American governments for oil resources.
The people want to democratise, reform and improve lives, they may even edge towards communism, but the US and UK will block this with their puppet the Shah of Iran.
Roya is a kind, thoughtful girl fresh out of high school. She hangs around the Stationery Shop where she picks out books of poetry and literature translated from Russian and British classics. It is here that she meets Bahman, a handsome, charismatic, erudite young man who is also a political activist.
The Stationery Shop is the place to be for young radicals and artists in Tehran, and is run by the enigmatic Mr Fakhri. He is a scholarly man, who recognises young love when he sees it and diplomatically gives the couple space.
Their love blossoms and Roya is introduced to Iran's revolutionary movement and the oppressive forces of the state. As the political situation races towards crisis and the inevitable coup, Bahman goes missing and has to communicate with Roya through secret notes left in books in Mr Fakhri's Stationery Shop. Maybe this was the shop's main purpose.
During this time there is another significant influence and that is Bahman's mother. She has a mental illness which is never fully explained but manifests itself as her behaving like a nasty, controlling bitch. She is a social climber and determined that her son can do better.
As the political situation is about to explode, Bahman writes a note to Roya urging her to meet him in a square in the city centre where they will marry without fuss before things get in the way.
Roya makes it to the square for their assignation but there is serious street violence and Bahman can't be found.
The second part of the story is Roya and her sister moving to the states to study at university as post-coup Iran continues to collapse and fail. She has to learn to 'move on' and live without Bahman. She marries a kindly American man and they grow old together in New England. She assimilates to American culture and loses many of her Iranian connections.
However, she shockingly discovers, and meets up with, Bahman some fifty years later (they are now both in their mid to late seventies) and there is a major plot revelation.
This is a beautiful, poignant story about love, politics, culture and a woman's adaptability and resilience. Marjan Kamali is an astute story teller and writer who is able to richly describe a deeply personal and emotional love story but can also fully describe cultural, social and political change.
Mozham Marno is brilliant in the narration by authentically portraying not only the narrative but the voices of a diverse range of characters.
A beautiful story about love, politics & culture
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Loved it.
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Beautiful
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Story is great, reader shouts far too much
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