A Prix Senghor 2015 winner by Tehran-born Reza, who came to France as a teenager in the 1980s, this debut opens in a remote mountain village in 1920s Iran. When teenage Sardar marries barely pubescent Talla and takes her away to live on the outskirts of Tehran, she becomes the first female to leave the village and is thereafter spoken of with awe. Sardar’s a steady man and Talla rather a blazing temperament, and they eventually have a son, Bahram, who’s smart, cheeky, and a devoted follower of progressive politician Mohammed Mosaddegh. Social and political upheaval go hand in hand, as Sardar becomes entranced by radio and Reza Shah Pahlavi comes to power and bans the chador, horrifying Talla not because of religious conviction but her fear of the unknown. Reza thus provides a carefully wrought lesson in 20th-century Iranian history.
VERDICT Informative but not didactic, this book reads like a popular saga, simply told and with recognizable characters whom many readers will appreciate.
