Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Stationary Shop
Marjan Kamali
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Stationary Shop
Marjan Kamali
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Stationary Shop, by Marjan Kamali, is the story of Roya, who falls in love with Bahman when she sees him in the little neighborhood stationary shop. The owner, Mr. Fakhri, coyly leaves them alone there. The year is 1953 in Tehran, and times are turbulent. Change of government creates chaos and marches occur daily. They both love to read poetry and novels. Move ahead to 2013 and Roya is on his way to see a man, a resident, in a nursing home. It’s been sixty years since he left her waiting in the Tehran town center.
Roya learns that Bahman is a political activist and that Mr. Fakhri supplies him with dangerous political material against the Shah’s government. Violence increases; protestors are shot. Bahman is attacked by three thugs hired by the Shah and friend takes Bahman to the clinic. He recovers. At New Years, the two main characters meet again. Roya’s sister, Zaari, tells her she’s foolish to trust him. Bahman says democracy will change everything. He believes the British will give the oil back to the Iranians.
When Roya meets Bahman's mother, she doesn’t hide her dislike of Roya. At their engagement party, his mother is rude, angry, and sobbing. Mr. Fakhri talks at length to the mother. Does their past bring them together? After their engagement, they go everywhere together. There are new freedoms under the most recent prime minister. At a party, they dance the tango in front of everyone, even though Bahman tells her the Shah has spies there.
One day, Bahman is missing, as are his mother and father. Roya goes to the stationary store. Mr. Fakhri tells her she can leave a letter with him, he will place it in a book. That is the way messages are passed between people who cannot be seen together. Roya loves Bahman more than ever and worries about his safety. There are forces that want to overthrow the prime minister. War is imminent. On August 19, a coup fails then the Shah and his wife fly to Baghdad after the attempt.
Bahman had written in his last letter to Roya that she should meet him in the city center. They will sign marriage papers, but violence is everywhere. When Roya gets to the square, a mob of athletes has formed and marches to the prime minister’s home. Mr. Fakhri comes to tell Roya something; he is shot and dies before he can give her the message. Is it important? His stationary store is burned to the ground. Bahman never shows up.
Then the author, Kamali, takes us back to 1916 to the melon seller’s daughter, Badri. A boy, Ali, has followed her and she yells at him, but then kisses him. Ali is a rich educated young man who wants this village girl who tastes like melons. But his future is a marriage planned to another woman. Years later, a stunning woman goes into Ali Fakhri’s stationary shop, the melon seller’s daughter, now married to an engineer. She introduces Fakhri to her fifteen year old son, Bhaman, and says he loves to read about real heroes. Fakhri swears to guide him to the right books. Fakhri recalls those moments of love behind the garbage cans with this woman.
Later, we learn that Bahman has written to Roya that they can never marry. The fathers of Roya and Zari plan to send both daughters to America to be educated. They are accepted at Mills College and California is like a toy store to them. Roya meets Walter at the local coffee shop and later makes him a typical Iranian dinner at her boarding house. He’s shy and kind, not brash as Bhaman was. Will she fall in love with him? Will she become a scientist as her father hopes? Does Roya ever find out the true story of why Bhaman left her waiting in the square? Author Kamali leads the reader into the future of Iran. Find this tender love story set against the historic background on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Roya learns that Bahman is a political activist and that Mr. Fakhri supplies him with dangerous political material against the Shah’s government. Violence increases; protestors are shot. Bahman is attacked by three thugs hired by the Shah and friend takes Bahman to the clinic. He recovers. At New Years, the two main characters meet again. Roya’s sister, Zaari, tells her she’s foolish to trust him. Bahman says democracy will change everything. He believes the British will give the oil back to the Iranians.
When Roya meets Bahman's mother, she doesn’t hide her dislike of Roya. At their engagement party, his mother is rude, angry, and sobbing. Mr. Fakhri talks at length to the mother. Does their past bring them together? After their engagement, they go everywhere together. There are new freedoms under the most recent prime minister. At a party, they dance the tango in front of everyone, even though Bahman tells her the Shah has spies there.
One day, Bahman is missing, as are his mother and father. Roya goes to the stationary store. Mr. Fakhri tells her she can leave a letter with him, he will place it in a book. That is the way messages are passed between people who cannot be seen together. Roya loves Bahman more than ever and worries about his safety. There are forces that want to overthrow the prime minister. War is imminent. On August 19, a coup fails then the Shah and his wife fly to Baghdad after the attempt.
Bahman had written in his last letter to Roya that she should meet him in the city center. They will sign marriage papers, but violence is everywhere. When Roya gets to the square, a mob of athletes has formed and marches to the prime minister’s home. Mr. Fakhri comes to tell Roya something; he is shot and dies before he can give her the message. Is it important? His stationary store is burned to the ground. Bahman never shows up.
Then the author, Kamali, takes us back to 1916 to the melon seller’s daughter, Badri. A boy, Ali, has followed her and she yells at him, but then kisses him. Ali is a rich educated young man who wants this village girl who tastes like melons. But his future is a marriage planned to another woman. Years later, a stunning woman goes into Ali Fakhri’s stationary shop, the melon seller’s daughter, now married to an engineer. She introduces Fakhri to her fifteen year old son, Bhaman, and says he loves to read about real heroes. Fakhri swears to guide him to the right books. Fakhri recalls those moments of love behind the garbage cans with this woman.
Later, we learn that Bahman has written to Roya that they can never marry. The fathers of Roya and Zari plan to send both daughters to America to be educated. They are accepted at Mills College and California is like a toy store to them. Roya meets Walter at the local coffee shop and later makes him a typical Iranian dinner at her boarding house. He’s shy and kind, not brash as Bhaman was. Will she fall in love with him? Will she become a scientist as her father hopes? Does Roya ever find out the true story of why Bhaman left her waiting in the square? Author Kamali leads the reader into the future of Iran. Find this tender love story set against the historic background on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.