The Stationery shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali


 When I first read the blurb I knew I had to get myself this book. I have always had a thing for romances in the backdrop of a war since I read Atonement and this book ticked off all the boxes. 


Roya meets Bahman in a little stationery shop in Tehran and fall in love Bollywood style. Their romance was not unlike those of high school children who exchange poetry, steal glances and exchange letters through books. Their courtship was proceeding smoothly and they got engaged in a few months. By this time my sadist mind was already cooking up situations which would seperate them and yes I am not disappointed. Bahman's mother disapproved of the match and had already fixed his marriage with someone else (yeah I know, Bollywood again). The marriage didn't fall through eventually and as the political situation in Iran worsened, Roya and her sister decided to emigrate to America in the hope of a better future.


The book doesn't offer any surprises. I pretty much guessed the ending when I was halfway through. And yet there is something about this genre that I cannot get enough of. In spite of being cliched, I liked how sensitively the author has handled Roya. The heartbreak actually made her stronger, taught her to be more sensible and forced her to be independent. Yet when she came across a stationery shop in England, all the walls she had built around herself over the years crumbled. Again she was the seventeen year old Roya-- vulnerable, impulsive who wore her heart on her sleeve.


Bahman's mother's story was my favourite part of the book. Even though I hated her scheming mind, a part of me couldn't help but sympathise with her. Someone who has been through what she did, would undoubtedly have different ideas about love and marriage. 


Did this book entertain me? Yes. Did I love this book? Sort of.

Will I recommend this book? Yes but only if war fiction is your comfort genre because this book has nothing new to offer.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bewilderment by Richard Powers

Image
 I had picked up Bewilderment with the expectations that anyone would naturally have for a Booker shortlisted book but I have to say this book fell short by a wide margin. I was having trouble figuring out what the point of this book was and 270ish pages later I was no wiser. I would like to say however that Richard Powers has talked about a number of issues ranging from  mental health, grief and global warming and has handled them in a really sensitive manner. Maybe I would be comfortable labelling this as a thematic book rather than a plot driven or character driven one. Richard Powers writes beautifully. The sentences kind of flows like thoughts of the main characters. Indeed Bewilderment is a powerful book. But the lack of character development kind of did not work for me. I was struggling to finish this book and considered DNFing at a point. I wished I did because the ending was rushed and did not do any justice to whatever little the plot had to offer.  All in all I...
Read more

Women, Dreaming by Salma

Image
 "Women Dreaming" was a book which I picked because of its gorgeous cover. The premise looked promising and I had a lot of expectations from this book. The book kicked off with a great start. The first 100 pages were flawless as the author described the plight of Muslim women in a small village which reeked of patriarchy and stereotypes. The struggles of three generations of women was written with heartbreaking compassion. Mehar's husband Hasan did not believe women were entitled to the same rights as men and even outlined the do's and don'ts for his the women in his family. When Mehar divorces him after she learns of his second marriage, it becomes the talk of the town with Hasan gradually losing his reputation among the villagers. The ongoing tussle between Mehar and Hasan, destroys the childhood of their children who ends up turning bitter and hated coming back home from hostel. Even with a promising storyline the story fell flat. It kept on dragging and the in...
Read more