The Lion Women of Tehran
Marjan Kamali
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
From the nationally bestselling author of the "powerful, heartbreaking" (Shelf Awareness) The Stationery Shop, 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. Written with Marjan Kamali's signature "evocative, devastating, and hauntingly beautiful" (Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light) prose, The Lion Women of Tehran is a sweeping exploration of how profoundly we are shaped by those we meet when we are young, and the way love and courage transforms our lives.
Product Details
Price
$28.99
$26.96
Publisher
Gallery Books
Publish Date
July 02, 2024
Pages
336
Dimensions
6.0 X 9.0 X 0.83 inches | 1.13 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781668036587
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Become an affiliateAbout the Author
Marjan Kamali is the author of three books, including Together Tea, which was a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award, an NPR WBUR Good Read pick, and a Target Emerging Author selection. She is the 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Award. She was born in Turkey to Iranian parents and spent her childhood in Kenya, Germany, Turkey, Iran, and the United States. She holds degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, and New York University.
Reviews
"In The Lion Women of Tehran, Marjan Kamali brings to life the beauty and tragedy of Iran in the 1960s. From the delicious scent of spices simmering, to the colors of the bazaar, to the snowflakes landing on a certain character's hair, this story came brilliantly alive to me from the very first page. Courage, friendship, loyalty, hardship, love--this novel has everything." --Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes
"A moving tale of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness, unfolding into a deep and powerful exploration of feminist protest in Iran. The contrast between Ellie and Homa's voices is a narrative all of its own, and Homa deserves a place as one of the true heroines of literature." --Erica Bauermeister, New York Times bestselling author of No Two Persons
"A moving tale of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness, unfolding into a deep and powerful exploration of feminist protest in Iran. The contrast between Ellie and Homa's voices is a narrative all of its own, and Homa deserves a place as one of the true heroines of literature." --Erica Bauermeister, New York Times bestselling author of No Two Persons