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1979/1989/1999/2009: A captivating novel of one family’s flight from and return to Iran.
1979/1989/1999/2009: A captivating novel of one family’s flight from and return to Iran.
1979. Behzad, a young communist revolutionary, fights with his friends for a new order after the Shah’s expulsion. He tells of sparking hope, of clandestine political actions, and of how he finds the love of his life in the courageous, intelligent Nahid.
1989. Nahid lives her new life in West Germany with Behzad. With their young children, they spend hour after hour in front of the radio, hoping for news from others who went into hiding after the mullahs came to power.
1999. Laleh returns to Iran with her mother, Nahid. Between beauty rituals and family secrets, she gets to know a Tehran that hardly matches her childhood memories.
2009. Laleh’s brother Mo is more concerned with a friend’s heartbreak than with student demonstrations in Germany. But then the Green Revolution breaks out in Iran and turns the world upside down …
Germany and Iran
This is a story of two countries, two cultures and a family trying to find a home in both.
The story encapsulates much of the political upheaval of 1979 and the years after as Iran’s ruling elite changes for good. Many aspects of the Iranian culture, the Iranian way of life and the political situation are threaded throughout the novel. However, it is the human angle that hits the hardest.
Germany
The family live in Western Germany after fleeing Iran – but in 1989 Germany too underwent significant political change. A key milestone in the history of this country as well as the world.
Destination/Location: Tehran Author: Shida Bazyar Departure: 1979/1989/1999/2009
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