Cbr17bingo Diaspora (bingo)
The Persians is author Sanam Mahloudji’s debut novel and focuses on a topic I seem to be drawn to lately — the Islamic Revolution and its fallout, particularly as it pertained to women. Mahloudji, who was born in Tehran but whose family left for Los Angeles after the revolution, tells the story of 5 women, three generations of one family, and their struggles for independence and agency, whether in Iran or the US.
All the women in this novel are members of the Valiat family, descendants of “the Great Warrior” who supposedly fought for a republic generations ago and was rewarded with land and honor. The matriarch of the family is Elizabeth, now in her 80s (the year is 2006) and still residing in Tehran with her granddaughter Niaz. Elizabeth and Niaz, who was 6 when the revolution occurred, were left behind while Elizabeth’s children Seema, Nader and Shirin got out with their families. Niaz is Shirin’s daughter and the story of the relationship (or lack thereof) between Elizabeth, Shirin and Niaz is a central part of the novel. Seema has been dead for a year in 2006, but she still narrates her story from beyond the grave, while her daughter Bita, who was an infant when the family fled to Los Angeles, is attending law school and trying to handle the fallout of Auntie Shirin’s scandalous behavior in Aspen. The Valiats in the US — Shirin, Bita, and Seema — are very wealthy but not very happy. Seema, while having lived a financially comfortable life in the US, realizes that she didn’t reach her potential and has regrets. Bita is in therapy, trying to deal with not just grief from losing her mother but also the pressure she feels as a “Valiat,” the pressure she feels from family to live and be a way that she finds distasteful. Shirin is a fascinating character in the way that a train wreck is fascinating. She is in her fifties, married with a son, all successful and wealthy. Shirin is an event planner in Houston, catering to the Iranian elite there, and she is an insufferable snob. Shirin thinks very highly of herself and very little of others, but she is also incredibly sensitive to any perceived slights (many of which she could be imagining). Shirin knows that being a Valiat in the US means nothing to people here, but she hangs on to that family status like it’s a life preserver. She gets angry when she is not shown proper deference. Shirin is a beautiful woman who throws money around like water, but while on the annual Valiat Aspen vacation, she makes a mistake and is arrested for prostitution. She makes Bita deal with her case and doesn’t understand the true danger of her situation; the negative press is bad for business, but even worse, Shirin’s status as a green card holder is precarious. She could get deported to Iran.
Meanwhile in Tehran, Elizabeth is raising Shirin’s daughter Niaz, who is angry with Shirin for never getting her back. Through Niaz, we see the revolution through the eyes of a child. Niaz, having been raised by Elizabeth, is a strong personality (much like Shirin). As she grows up, she is drawn to counter culture movements, which place her in danger. Elizabeth’s past is slowly revealed and we learn about her wealthy family where she was loved by her father but scorned by her mother and sisters for having a big nose. We learn that Elizabeth was an artist and that she was in love with the chauffeur’s son Ali. This relationship with Ali and the truth about both that and the real actions of the Valiat’s “Great Warrior”, when revealed, will cause upset and upheaval within the family.
Shirin’s trial and the arrival of Niaz and Elizabeth in the US force the characters to look at their past and their family history. They have to re-evaluate everything they thought they knew, particularly about themselves. The Persians is a real eye-opener about the effect that family history, patriarchy and revolution had and continue to have on those women who experienced it all. Their trauma transcends geography and generations, but so does their strength.