The Stationery Shop

A story told over 60 years, the earliest introduction to Roya is as a high school girl living in 1953 Tehran. She, her sister, mother and father live a comfortable, if fairly modern life: her father wants his girls to be highly educated and successful, dreaming of the opportunities afforded by their forward-looking Prime Minister as he tries to bring a more democratic government into power, with opposition from the Shah’s supporters, Communists and other factions that are demonstrating, threatening and generally causing upheaval in the city. But Roya, a studious girl and lover of the translated classics as well as traditional Persian poets has found her ‘refuge’ in The Stationery Shop – where the papers, pens and books are everything a bibliophile could dream of. But, she also is enamored of Bahman, a friend of the owner Mr. Fakhri, a seriously politically active young man, destined to “change the world”. Mr. Fakhri is also beset with his own series of regrets and choices, having once lost the ‘love of his life’ to societal and parental expectations, he is fueling this young romance even as he warns Roya to proceed with caution. Starting as a tale of young love as the naïve Roya is introduced to many ‘western’ activities: tango and waltz parties, coffee shops, political activism movies and dreams of ‘a democratic Iran, she and Bahman grow closer and fall in love. Even with the odds stacked against them – as his mother is most probably suffering from bipolar depression – untreated and unremarked on as this is ‘not polite”, she has made plans for Bahman, to become all that he can be with a rich and successful wife who’s family is tied to the Shah, not Roya, daughter of a simple government clerk. Roya’s family is also hesitant, her sister being the most vocal against the connection, and when plans are made for them to meet and marry in secret – presenting everyone with a fait accompli, Bahman and Roya don’t meet – in fact she is witness to the death of Mr. Fakhri in a demonstration. Oh this story was E V E R Y T H I N G – from the young love and loss to the tumult of 1953 Iran, Roya’s subsequent emigration to study in California, and her marriage to a Boston-born law student. With all of the questions as to where they are now – or how things have been, the questions are never ending and the emotions, the what ifs, carry across miles and time. When she finally encounters Bahman’s son, running his father’s stationery store in a Boston suburb, the story comes full circle, and perhaps the two shall get answers to questions never asked. Told in multiple perspectives with a voice that not only ‘feels’ very authentic, but also details both daily life and customs and traditions in the very traditional Iranian culture, this was a ‘dip your toes into’ the smells, tastes and feel of Iran in the mid-20th century, told in ways that make the ‘different to your experience’ approachable and wholly tangible. For the prose, the voices and the convoluted story of a love that was derailed by others, the story comes to a lovely conclusion, with many answers and a sense of peace with the past, honoring both the cultures and experiences that brought them to now. The editor’s note talks about how emotionally compelling the story is, embedding itself into your pores no matter how long it is between returning to the story. I didn’t return to it – I devoured the story in a few hours, desperate to see if questions would be answered and discover if after it all, Roya would have wished for different. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.