Ziba, eponymous heroine of the début novel by Iranian-American author Afarin Majidi, is married to Farhad, a faithful servant of the Shah, who has "rescued" her from an abusive first marriage but is at odds with her fiery leftist daughter by that marriage, Nasreen. Ziba loves her chauffeur Reza, who is secretly an anti-royalist spying on Farhad. Nasreen is a poet, devoted to Rilke and Sylvia Plath, in love with the student radical Kamal but seducing the soldier Essie "for the cause".
Meanwhile, Iran is "slowly turning into an American shopping mall where Muslims and the poor were unwelcome." Muslims pin their hopes on the Ayatollah Khomeini, whose son was allegedly murdered by the Shah's secret service SAVAK, while for leftists the Mullahs (clerics) "are no different from the royalists...with the same sense of entitlement, just based on a different bloodline." Revolution is in the air, violence is rife, and those with the means are quietly negotiating their exile.
Majidi weaves these tangled threads together into a rich fabric that is often tragic but sometimes unexpectedly comic.
Given the historical significance of the 1979 Revolution that overthrew the Shah, it's remarkable how little resonance it has found in English-language literature. Perhaps the backing the Shah received from the US and UK and the role that Iran plays nowadays as an official enemy of the West have ensured that literary explorations of the Revolution's complex history are deemed unwelcome. And perhaps this explains why Ziba, is "independently published" (as was her harrowing 2017 memoir Writing and Madness in a Time of Terror) rather than issued by a major publisher. This is a shame, because both memoir and novel deserve wider dissemination.
5.0 out of 5 stars Raw, Real, and Beautifully Written
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2025
Ziba is a powerful and emotional read set during the Iranian Revolution. It tells the story of Ziba, a woman stuck in a loveless royal marriage, and her daughter Nasreen, a bold poet fighting against the system. Their relationship is tense and complicated, and the book does a great job showing how personal and political struggles overlap.
The writing is poetic and sometimes jumps around in time, which can be a little confusing, but it fits the story’s mood. Some of the male characters felt a bit flat, but the female voices were strong and compelling.
If you like historical fiction with heart and depth, Ziba is worth reading
5.0 out of 5 stars Super interesting book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2025
Definitely worth a read! Very interesting story and brings alive this important historical time. I very strongly recommend this book!