The Persians

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE 2025

‘Enormously entertaining’ THE TIMES

‘As funny as it is moving’ GUARDIAN

‘Unputdownable’ HARPER'S BAZAAR

‘Funny, sharp and insightful … a triumph’ LAUREN LAVERNE

‘A joy of a debut’ DAVID MITCHELL

‘Magnificent BERNARDINE EVARISTO

A stunning debut novel following five women from three generations of a once eminent Iranian family as their lives are turned upside down.

The Valiat family are in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution and only has Niaz, her Islamic law-breaking granddaughter for company. In America, Elizabeth’ s daughters, the flamboyantly high-flying Shirin and frustrated housewife Seema, are wondering if their new lives there are all they had hoped for. Lastly, there’s the second granddaughter, Bita, a disillusioned law student trying to find deeper meaning by giving away her worldly belongings.

When an annual vacation in Aspen goes wildly awry and Shirin ends up being bailed out of jail, gossip about the family spreads like wildfire. Soon, Shirin sets out to restore the family name to its former glory. But what does that mean in a country where the Valiats never mattered to anyone? And, will reputation be enough to make them a family again?

The Persians is an irresistible portrait of a unique family in turmoil that explores timeless questions of love, money, art and fulfilment. Here is their past, their present and a possible new future for them all.

A most anticipated novel of 2025 in Stylist, BBC and iNews.

‘Funny, gutsy and confidently written … an outstanding debut’ DIANA EVANS, 2025 Women’s Prize Judge

‘Mesmerising’ MONICA ALI

‘Darkly funny, richly satisfying’ SARAH WINMAN

‘Riotous … will have you hooked’ STYLIST

‘As exuberant as it is sharp’ iNEWS

‘A sweeping and irreverent tale’ BBC

‘Gloriously engrossing’ TASH AW

‘Exuberant, comic, perceptive’ AMINA CAIN

‘A very brilliant, very special book’ JESSICA STANLEY

‘An unforgettable read’ JOSIE FERGUSON

About the author

Sanam Mahloudji is an American writer born in Tehran and based in London. She is the winner of a Pushcart Prize for her fiction and was nominated for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Her debut novel, The Persians, was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize 2025.