The Lion Women of Tehran: The life-affirming BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick
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By Marjan Kamali
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1 review
‘As heart-wrenching as it is achingly beautiful’ Sadeqa Johnson, author of The House of Eve
‘Heartbreaking and life affirming’ Adrienne Brodeur, author of Little Monsters
‘Courage, friendship, loyalty, hardship, love – this novel has everything’ Mary Beth Keane, Ask Again, Yes
From the author of The Stationery Shop of Tehran, a heartfelt, epic new novel of friendship, betrayal and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.
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 of a friend to alleviate her isolation. Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate 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 for 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.Praise for Marjan Kamali
‘Evocative, devastating, and hauntingly beautiful… This book broke my heart again and again’ Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light ‘A beautifully immersive tale … brings to life a lost and complex world and the captivating characters who once called it home’ Jasmin Darznik, author of The Good Daughter and Song of a Captive Bird ‘What a pleasure – a novel that is all at once masterfully plotted, beautifully written, and populated by characters who are arresting, lovable and so real’ Elinor Lipman, author of Turpentine Lane ‘A sweeping romantic tale of thwarted love’ Kirkus Reviews ‘An enchanting romance’ My Weekly ‘I! Am! ObsessedReviews
Our Hythe Book Group received free copies from The Reading Agency and the publishers.
Themes of female friendship , freedom of choice, childhood, betrayal and includes sensitive portrayal of imprisonment, rape, torture, superstitions. etc. Opens in New York in 1981 but goes back in time to one of the two protagonist’s childhood in 1950s Iran - a very different country then. Westernised, Americanised food clothes, music, films interspersed with traditional Iranian Muslim culture and tradition. Story told through experiences of two friends Homa (risk taker, poor, ambitious,independent, politically aware, in a warm loving family becomes an activist and political organiser) and wealthier Ellie from a conservative, privileged widowed family who has more conventional romantic dreams of love, marriage and a family.
A socio-political picture of Iran at the time. Independence of women in the period - higher education, wealthy families, girls wearing trousers, no headscarves, makeup , fashion etc.
Political backdrop - corrupt monarchical regime under the Shah , protests, secret police, communist movement, arrests and a revolution under Ayatollah Khomenei. Invasion by Saddam Hussein, bombing, Iraq, and historic significant political events.
First childhood/adolescent sections told in the first person by Ellie but most gripping section was part 3 told mainly by Homa imprisonment, emigration to USA, re-kindling of their friendship, protests in Iran.
Takes up up to 2022 - 3 generations living now in the USA running a successful restaurant business. Based on author’s own family and friends’ experiences in some ways and her current life in the USA. Written against the backdrop of women protesting in Iran now and the killing of Mahsa Jina Amini for improper wearing of the hijab.
Very readable. Not great literature but an engaging, middle brow, informative story making some of the politics, history, protests of Iran etc accessible. Perhaps over simplifies, a Radio 2 magazine type read but written with good intentions and undoubtedly might enlighten some Americans.
Scored highly between 7 and 8.out of 10 with our group. Total scores of 32 so an average score of 8.
