- New Arrivals
Fiction- Historical FictionCrime & ThrillersMysteryScience-FictionFantasyPoetryRomanceChildren’s BooksYoung Adult
- Biographies & MemoirsHistoryCurrent AffairsTech & ScienceBusinessSelf-DevelopmentTravelThe ArtsFood & WineReligion & SpiritualitySportsHumor
Children’s BooksListsBlogGift CardsMy ListsGames- About & Help
- About Tertulia
- Membership & Co-Ownership
- Shipping & Delivery
- Orders & Payments
- Contact Support
- Send App Feedback
- Follow us
- Download the app
The co-op bookstore for avid readers
The Persians
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 6 reviews on
Shortlisted for The Women's Prize - Named a Most Anticipated Book by Electric Literature, Publishers Weekly, The BBC, Daily Mail (London), and more A darkly funny, life-affirming "joy of a debut novel" (David Mitchell) that follows five women from three generations of a once illustrious Iranian family as their lives are turned upside down. The women of the Valiat family are in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution and only has Niaz, her Islamic law-breaking granddaughter for company. In America, Elizabeth's daughters, the flamboyantly high-flying Shirin and frustrated housewife Seema, are wondering if their new lives there are what they had hoped for. Lastly, there's the second granddaughter, Bita, a disillusioned law student trying to find deeper meaning by giving away her worldly belongings. When an annual vacation in Aspen goes wildly awry and Shirin ends up being bailed out of jail, gossip about the family spreads like wildfire. Soon, Shirin sets out to restore the family name to its former glory. But what does that mean in a country where the Valiats never mattered to anyone? The Persians is an irresistible portrait of a unique family in turmoil that explores timeless questions of love, money, art and fulfilment. Here is their past, present, and a possible new future for them all.
Book Details
- Publisher: Scribner Book Company
- Publish Date: Mar 4th, 2025
- Pages: 384
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 9.24in - 6.38in - 1.34in - 1.17lb
- EAN: 9781668015797
- Categories: • Family Life - General• Literary• Cultural Heritage
About the Author
Mahloudji, Sanam: - Sanam Mahloudji is an American writer born in Tehran and based in London. She is the winner of a Pushcart Prize for her fiction and was nominated for a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Her writing has appeared in McSweeney's, The Idaho Review, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. Her debut novel The Persians has been shortlisted for the Women's Prize.
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
"An irresistible novel about a singular yet wholly recognizable family. I fell in love with the women in the Valiat family: by turns feisty and foolish, wise and secretive, and full of so much love and longing it took my breath away. Sanam Mahloudji writes with such humor and zip that the heartbreak sneaks up on you. This is a remarkable debut." --Edan Lepucki, author of California "Filled with heartbreak, humor, and so much love, The Persians is a sharp exploration of the concerns of a wealthy Iranian family. Sanam Mahloudji takes us on a journey to reshape our understanding of power, heritage, and ancestry--and brings a rare wisdom to the chaos of family." --Vanessa Chan, author of The Storm We Made "An epic of intricate and beautiful proportion, The Persians is exuberant, comic, and perceptive. I fell in love with the women of the Valiat family and won't soon forget them." --Amina Cain, author of Indelicacy "A wonderful multi-generational family drama with characters you really care about. I'm still thinking about them now. I enjoyed it enormously" --Marian Keyes, author of Rachel's Holiday "Half outrageous, compulsive, and shameless; half tender, loving, and funny: The Persians is a very brilliant, very special book." --Jessica Stanley, author of Consider Yourself Kissed "At once funny and profound, sprawling and personal, The Persians questions history's grip on our lives--is it possible to free ourselves from the past, and do we even want to? A gloriously engrossing debut." --Tash Aw, author of We, The Survivors "The Persians is an ambitious, glorious feat of juggling. Five women's voices become one irresistible whole in this darkly funny, richly satisfying, wonderful debut." --Sarah Winman, author of Still Life "A witty and deeply absorbing saga of a family whose fate is intertwined with modern Iran's. I always knew epic Iranian families like the Valiats existed, I had just never met any. These five fierce, passionate, wounded women are at once tragic and hilarious, each voice meticulously crafted and singularly true." --Dina Nayeri, author of Who Gets Believed? "A captivating family saga, equally tragic and comic, The Persians is an unforgettable read with complex, chaotic characters you can't help but love." --Josie Ferguson, author of The Silence in Between "Glitzy, gutsy and deliciously dark, a romp with serious things to say about misogyny, generational trauma and losing your home." --Samantha Ellis, author of Take Courage