The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

This is a beautifully written novel about a woman’s journey from her first love, discovered as a teenager in a stationery shop just before the 1953 coup in Tehran, through her life in the United States — influenced at each stage by the expectations, challenges, and often trauma of those around her.

I’ll admit that if I were judging the plot on its own, this would probably be a three-star book at most: central to the plot are the dubious lack of communication between young Roya and Bahman after the coup and the way their love never wanes or even really changes shape over time. But if you can accept that part of Roya’s story, the rest of the book elegantly portrays how she (and the other people in her life, at various points) faces cultural and familial expectations; immigration, culture shock, and a new language; doubt and roadblocks in her career; and grief and uncertainty. Throughout it all, there are also evocative descriptions of the food that frequently serves to bring people closer together.

I probably enjoyed this book more because of my personal connections to Iran and my love of Persian food, language, and culture, but I think it’s also worth reading for the writing style and exploration of themes like love, alienation, loss, and self-determination.