Author: Marjan Kamali
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Pages: 322
Date Started: 26 August 2021
Date Finished: 1 September 2021
I accidentally bumped into this book while browsing historical fiction books. The ratings were high on Goodreads and the story synopsis sounded interesting as well. And most importantly, it was available to pick up at my library which made me pick up this book on a whim!
The story is about Roya Kayhani, now Archer, who grew up in Iran during turbulent times. She is a teen living with her parents and a younger sister Zari. Their father seems to stress education and has high hopes for both girls. Roya is a regular visitor to the local stationery shop run by Ali Fakhri to read poetry by Rumi and other books. There she meets a young man Bahman Alsan and eventually falls in love with him.
With the permission of their parents, they are engaged to marry each other. On the eve of their marriage, Roya is supposed to meet Bahman at the town square, and the violence erupts changing their lives forever. Roya tries to contact Bahman in every way she can and it is fruitless. Roya moves on with her life, eventually getting into college in California, along with her sister Zari, and meets Walter Archer. Roya marries Walter and lives in New England. After nearly sixty years, she happens to visit a local bookstore, which leads her to Bahman Aslan, who is now a local senior center. She is now capable of approaching Bahman to know more about the fateful afternoon that changed their lives and know more about the events that followed. But Roya needs to gather the courage to meet her past!
I was impressed with Roya's character. She as a teenage girl is busy with her passion for reading and falls in love with Bahman out of nowhere. After the unfortunate event, although heartbroken, she tries to move on. I really liked the fact that the author created Roya a strong character of getting through everything that comes her way while keeping her roots and culture strong. Even when she gets the chance to meet her past, she easily forgives Bahman, yet is strong enough to know the reason for Bahman's behavior. She is easily forgiving and more practical.
The book is for sure a page-turner. The books walked me through the changing times in Iran. The story never felt stalled or boring. Although I wish Bahman's side of the story was more interesting. The book did a great job moving according to the times while keeping the characters intact. I also felt good that all the characters had a proper exit as well. I also realized that I need to read more about world political history, specifically Iranian history which has changed so much in the last 60 years or so.
Favorite lines from the book:
The past was always there, lurking in the corners, winking at you when you thought you'd moved on, hanging on to your organs from the inside.
You might think the world is complicated and full of lost souls, that people who've touched your life and disappeared will never be found, but in the end, all of that can change.
She could spend an entire afternoon just looking at fountain pens and ink bottles or flipping through books that spoke of poetry and love and loss.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.
Why doesn’t his heart let go? Why do some people stay lodged in our souls, stuck in our throats, imprinted in our minds?
I don’t want you to think you have to be afraid of it. It’s just people. People like us. It’s all we have. You know?
It was practically 1960, but it seemed that everywhere she went, male applicants got preference.
