The Persians
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By Sanam Mahloudji, Mozhan Navabi, Lanna Joffrey, Nikki Massoud, and and, Donia Bijan
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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 TweetReviews
Part review
Fran Griffiths Chwaeroniaeth bookclub Swansea
The book opens in Aspen Colorado, playground to the rich and sometime famous. The collective title of the book leads one to assume a cultural group displaying familiar traits or characteristics. But no, even only a little way into the book the reader becomes aware that the collective thread is money : having it, splashing it around, wasting it, flaunting it. The story is told by individual female members of the family. I love the book it is intriguing and has a defining moment in time, the overthrow of the Shah of Persia..... I want to continue, I hate the characters. They are strongly drawn and totally self absorbed as only the priviledged can be. The world outside their world has only human objects in it who only occupy their space in relation to what they can do for them... the protagonists. So far......
