Book Review-The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.
Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.
A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, 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 you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?
Author: Marjan Kamali
Hardcover, 312 pages
Published: June 18, 2019
My Review
Set in the 1950s of Iran, where the country’s future was changing in every corner; democrats and dictatorial, all together and against each other, marching toward making the future of Iran according to their perspectives. In the front, on the streets, the wind was revolting and in the back, between the aisles of translated books and Rumi’s poetries, a love so pure birthed that it became too good to be true, too naive, too innocent against the world which was on the brink of war.
Roya, a sweet, bookish girl, loved Mr Fakhir’s stationery like her home. Bahman, a firebrand, a political activist. Bahman was the boy who would change the world, and for Roya, the books in the shop were her haven. They fell in love, against the odds, against their family background and opinions. But again, I will say, too good to be true. Iran Collapsed, and so did their love.
The story moves from 1950s Iran to 2013 America steadily, back and forth. Giving glimpses of changing worlds, compromises, heartbreaks and decisions made based on self-security.
Marjan Kamali wrote their love so elegantly that the gripping feeling of the pureness made me sigh and cry at the same time. I did wish for occasional lightness to alleviate the moment. There were moments, scenes, and dialogue where I had to stop for few seconds and reread it. Every page was just that moving. The story was just that beautiful.