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The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran

Book
The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar and Ruth Martin

As seen:

  • International Booker Prize 2026 longlist

By Shida Bazyar and Ruth Martin

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1 review

A captivating, polyphonic novel of one family’s flight from and return to Iran.

1979. Behsad, a young communist revolutionary, fights with his friends for a new order after the Shah’s expulsion. He tells of sparking hope, of clandestine political actions, and of how he finds the love of his life in the courageous, intelligent Nahid.

1989. Nahid lives her new life in West Germany with Behsad. With their young children, they spend hour after hour in front of the radio, hoping for news from others who went into hiding after the mullahs came to power.

1999. Laleh returns to Iran with her mother, Nahid. Between beauty rituals and family secrets, she gets to know a Tehran that hardly matches her childhood memories.

2009. Laleh’s brother Mo is more concerned with a friend’s heartbreak than with student demonstrations in Germany. But then the Green Revolution breaks out in Iran and turns the world upside down …

A topical, moving novel about revolution, oppression, resistance, and the absolute desire for freedom.

Reviews

18 Apr 2026

Annette

Timely, topical and very interesting. The story of Iran from 1979 to 2009 through the eyes of one Iranian family who flee to and settle in Germany.

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