Books › The Stationery Shop
The Stationery Shop
400 pages
A sweeping, sensory tale of star-crossed love and the enduring ache of the paths we didn't take.
What it feels like
A sweeping, deeply sensory experience that wraps the reader in the sights, smells, and heartbreaks of 1953 Tehran before spanning decades of quiet longing. The narrative moves at a steady, deliberate pace, allowing the intoxicating rush of first love to settle into a profound, melancholic exploration of memory and the immigrant experience. The prose is rich and tactile, lingering on the scent of Persian food, the texture of fine paper, and the verses of Rumi, creating an atmosphere that is both romantic and steeped in sorrow. It is a tear-jerking, bittersweet journey that traces the devastating impact of political upheaval on ordinary lives. This book will deeply satisfy readers who crave evocative, character-driven historical fiction about star-crossed lovers and the enduring weight of the past.
- Mood
- bittersweet
- sensory
- wistful
- romantic
- sorrowful
- Tone
- earnest
- nostalgic
- tender
- melancholic
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- first love · the weight of memory · immigrant experience · paths not taken · political upheaval
- The writing
- Lyrical, evocative, and deeply sensory, lingering on the tastes of Persian food and the tactile beauty of paper and poetry.
- The arc
- Moves from the intoxicating hope of young love through the devastating ache of sudden loss, culminating in a bittersweet, poignant resolution.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love sweeping, tear-jerking historical fiction that centers on star-crossed lovers and rich cultural settings.
Content notes
- political violence
- grief
- miscarriage
- mental illness
About the book
"A novel set in 1953 Tehran, against the backdrop of the Iranian Coup, about a young couple in love who are separated on the eve of their marriage, and who are reunited sixty years later, after having moved on to live independent lives in America, to discover the truth about what happened on that fateful day in the town square"--
1953, Tehran. Amidst the political upheaval of the time, Roya finds an oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri's book and stationery shop. When he introduces Roya to his other favorite customer-- handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi's poetry-- she loses her heart at once. On the eve of their marriage, violence erupts. In the chaos of the coup d'etat, Bahman never shows, and Roya moves on to a life in the U.S. More than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did he leave? Where did he go? How was he able to forget her? -- adapted from jacket
Description from Open Library.
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