The Persians
A Novel
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Five women. Three generations. A whole lot of family history.
“Whip-smart, infused with melancholy, tragicomic, huge-hearted and sharp-toothed...a joy of a debut by the real deal.” —DAVID MITCHELL, author of Cloud Atlas
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE 2025
“As funny as it is moving.” —THE GUARDIAN
“Unputdownable.” —HARPER’S BAZAAR (UK)
“Snortingly funny.” —THE TIMES (LONDON)
“Sweeping and irreverent.” —BBC
“Life-affirming.” —THE OBSERVER
“Thoroughly refreshing.” —FINANCIAL TIMES
“Magnificent.” —BERNARDINE EVARISTO, author of Girl, Woman, Other
“Mesmerizing.” —MONICA ALI, author of Love Marriage
“Darkly funny, richly satisfying.” —SARAH WINMAN, author of Still Life
“Gloriously engrossing.” —TASH AW, author of The South
“Exuberant, comic, perceptive.” —AMINA CAIN, author of Indelicacy
The Valiat family is in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution with only the Islamic-law-breaking Niaz for company. Meanwhile, in America, Shirin, Seema, and Bita are wondering if life in the "land of plenty" is all they had hoped for. When an annual vacation goes wildly awry and Shirin is arrested, long-held Valiat family secrets begin to surface. As their lives are turned upside down, could revealing the truth save their family, or might it break them apart once and for all?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Mahloudji's ebullient debut, a Persian family reckons with their exile and loss of prestige in the wake of the Islamic Revolution. In December 2005, middle-aged Shirin Valiat, a charismatic events planner based in Houston, is arrested for prostitution in Aspen, Colo., during a vacation with her family. News of Shirin's arrest harms her thriving business, prompting her to move into her niece Bita's cramped Manhattan apartment and court new clients at the funeral of a prominent Persian woman with ties to her estranged mother, Elizabeth, who still lives in Tehran. Mahloudji interweaves the story of Elizabeth's life in the early 1940s, when she's an aspiring painter and falls for Ali Lufti, the son of the family's chauffeur. Eventually, Elizabeth marries a much older man, choosing her family's approval over her love for Ali Lufti, but she's deeply unhappy, especially as she abandons her art career to care for her three children, all of whom flee with their own children during the Revolution. Only Shirin's six-year-old daughter, Niaz, remains with Elizabeth. Mahloudji keeps the reader turning the pages as Elizabeth teases and finally reveals her darkest secrets about Ali Lufti along with the reason behind Niaz's remaining behind in Tehran. It's a memorable family saga.
