The Lion Women of Tehran
-
-
4.5 • 512 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
An “evocative read and a powerful portrait of friendship, feminism, and political activism” (People) set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran—from nationally bestselling author Marjan Kamali.
In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams for a friend to alleviate her isolation.
Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions of becoming “lion women.”
But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.
Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.
“Reminiscent of The Kite Runner and My Brilliant Friend, The Lion Women of Tehran is a mesmerizing tale” (BookPage) of love and courage, and a sweeping exploration of how profoundly we are shaped by those we meet when we are young.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Acclaimed author Marjan Kamali invites us into the intimate lives of two daring Iranian women in this powerful decades-spanning novel. Ellie never imagined that she would speak to her childhood best friend, Homa, ever again. But when a harrowing letter in Homa’s handwriting arrives at Ellie’s Manhattan apartment from Tehran in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution, Ellie decides to confront her past and the terrible moment that drove the two women apart. Kamali fills her novel with details of the tastes and smells of prerevolutionary Iran in the ’50s and ’60s, overlaying a tale of love, betrayal, and world-altering politics with rich descriptions of mouthwatering Persian foods like refreshing shirazi salad and aromatic ghormeh sabzi. We loved the way the novel explores the lives of women in this world, and how some were able to subtly (or not so subtly) break the mold. This is a highly evocative pageturner.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The insightful latest from Kamali (The Stationary Shop) chronicles the decades-long friendship of two Iranian women whose lives are upended by their country's political upheaval. After seven-year-old Ellie's father dies from tuberculosis in 1950, she and her mother are forced to move to a smaller apartment in one of Tehran's poorer neighborhoods. At her new school, Ellie befriends a spirited classmate named Homa. Several years later, Ellie's mother remarries and they move to a better neighborhood, causing the girls to lose touch. Ellie later attends a prestigious high school and is mortified when Homa, who she now views as uncouth, becomes her classmate and greets her in front of her new friends ("Homa was my past. My two worlds were not supposed to collide"). They eventually rekindle their friendship, but are once again divided when Homa is imprisoned for protesting the shah in 1963. Later sections follow a married Ellie in 1981 New York City, where she receives a desperate letter sent by Homa from Tehran. Though there's not much of a plot, Kamali sustains the reader's interest by exploring the contrasts and sustained connection between the two central characters. This will resonate with fans of women's fiction.
Customer Reviews
See AllThe Most Recent Journey For The Lion Women of Tehran
Iran, a country painted with all the vivid colors an
ever changing history can produce, is the backdrop of this late 20th century historical fictionalized novel. The reader is transported to the days of the last Iranian Shah up through the most recent of protests for the rights of its citizens in the 2020s. Two seven year old little girls take the readers by the hands and by the hearts through war, terror and chaos until…….That you must read for yourself!
Enlightening, Powerful
I felt like I was reading about two real people. The story was beautifully written. I do think some areas could have been explored more deeply.
Beautiful story
If you want to read something that can be inspiring and a mind opening this would be it. Beautiful story. It lets you see how thing are differently in other countries and how people fight for normality.