I have received an ARC copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.
What a delightful read, The narrative of the book takes us to 1953 Iran, where a dreamy, idealistic teenager Raya finds her happy place in a quiet stationary shop ran by Mr. Fakhri. and where she meets her love Bahman. Due to unfortunate violent events that erupt in her town Bahman and Raya lose contact on the eve of their marriage to only meet again after sixty year. Then finally Raya tries to get answers to the questions she had been carrying through her life. This book will not leave you untouched. It has it all, political conflict, teenage feelings, great love and tiny of suspense.

Is your first love the best love, the one that will hold your heart and imagination even as you live a different life than you ever imagined, in a different country, a different world than the one you ever dreamed possible? If you are to believe the premise and the promise of the story of The Stationery Shop, it is. When you are young, your identity is so raw, so open, so malleable that the forces of family, politics, sexual attraction, and culture are exceptionally powerful. This book did not bring that magic alive for me, did not convince me that the love a young woman had for a young man is the best, the soul-defining, and most important love of her life. There is a revolution, distant rumbling of politics and intervention and guns, and issues of who you trust and when and how and why. By the middle of the book, I could not believe I was still reading it -- but there is something wonderful, powerful, evocative in Kamali's writing, moments that do take your breath away such as the grief of a young mother who loses a child. My favorite characters were not the protagonists, but rather the man who owned the stationery shop. I wish I liked it more and am glad that I am done reading it.

The Stationery Shop is not a book I would normally read. With that being said it was an emotional and thought provoking book that takes place in 1953 in Iran. It took you on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the book. It started off a little slow and confusing but it was a great book in the end. I recommend this book to readers who like older fiction type books.

5 stars

My goodness. Another beautiful and enthralling read in a year full of them for me! I am going to be brief as the less said the better for potential readers of this wonderful novel.

The Stationery Shop (the perfect title for this story) is set in two timelines—1953 and 2013. I would estimate, however, that 90% of the story takes place in 1953, including, believe it or not, the epilogue. Our protagonist is Roya, a young woman who turns 17 years old in 1953. She meets her first love, Bahman, in a stationery shop run by a kind man eager to nurture young people who come in looking for knowledge. Both Roya and Bahman love poetry. The 1953 setting is Tehran, Iran, which is in political turmoil. The author’s research is obvious as we are presented with what Iranian life was like at that time, including the culture, the state of the unstable government, and the accompanying unrest. We also get a flavor of Persian food. And a most touching young romance.

Things do not go as hoped and much grief and sadness ensues. To say more would risk saying too much. What happens to these people involves social mores of the time, mental illness, lies and deceit, familial wishes, deep regret, and again, political unrest. This is NOT your usual young romance - in no way, shape or form. Ultimately, although I felt drained at the end, we get understanding, compassion, acceptance and an abundance of love in many different forms. The Stationery Shop, a most moving and unforgettable tale with exceptional characterization, gets all the stars and is highly recommended.

I enjoyed reading this book and the opportunity it gave me to understand a little bit more of the culture, history and political strife of Iran. The Stationery Shop if a “secret” meeting place for two young Iranians, Roya and Bahran, who fall in love, during a particularly volatile time in their country. They are lost to each other for many, many years, during which time Roya and her sister travel to the US and Roya finds another love in Walter. As in many stories with this tragic storyline of lovers being separated by war/politics, Roya and Bahran are eventually brought back together where their questions can finally be explained and answered. I was given an ARC of this book by the author, publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review, which this has been.

I really enjoyed reading the first third or so of the Stationery Shop, and I think the strongest parts were about Roya's life in Tehran in 1953. I found the tensions between the different political factions fairly interesting (I have only the most basic knowledge about Iranian history), and I liked all the details of the food and parties and the shop. I was less caught up in the romance between Roya and Bahman, perhaps because they were so young.

I started to lose interest in the middle of the book (when Roya and Zari went to California for college), because 1950s America just wasn't as interesting as 1950s Iran. Part of it was also that Roya seemed to lose interest in life after what happened back home, so it was hard for me to power through her depression or disinterest and keep reading.

The ending felt satisfactory, but also a little too pat and ends-tied-up. Still, I'm glad I read this book and got a glimpse into a culture I was unfamiliar with.

I read and reviewed this book voluntarily.
Once I started this book, I could not put it down. I even read parts of it to my husband.
Roya and Bahman meet and fall in love in the spring of 1953 in Terhan in the Stationary Shop during a volatile political time. But by mid August Bahman has broken Royas heart. He leaves and then does not show at the square on the eve of their marriage.
After months of crying Roya and her sister are given the opportunity to study abroad in America. They go, but they will return when they are done with their studies. It is in California at a coffee shop that she meets Walter and no mater how much she tried to keep her heart behind a wall, he got in.
60 years after Bahman left her a chance meeting lets her ask the question she always wanted answered for closure. Why? Why did you no show, and how could you have forgotten me? The answers will surprise you.
I loved this book and don't want to say anymore because I want you to turn the pages as I did.

If I had to describe this book in one sentence I would say its "an emotional punch while also a snapshot about Iranian history and culture." The story of Roya and Bahman is told in the midst of cultural and political upheaval of the 1950s, the writing leaving you desperate to find out what happened. The writing also made you want to go to an Iranian restaurant and eat your weight in the yummy foods described so beautifully in the book. The characters will stay with me, I became so attached to them throughout the 320 pages. Living in Massachusetts, I just want to go to Roya's house and invite myself in for a cup of Persian tea.

A truly touching story of young love in Iran. The couple is deceived and separated, and they go on with their lives. But, so many years later, they meet again. This is so worth the read.

Set in a time period spanning over 60 years, this interesting novel tells not only a love story between Roya and Bahman who meet in a stationery shop in their youth, but also shows a glimpse into the Iranian political and cultural history during the 1950’s to 2013. I fell in love with Mr. Fakhri who ran the shop that plays such a pivotal role in this novel. Full of strong, intriguing characters, romance laced with some heartbreak, and with a bit of familial conspiracy and secrets, this book kept me turning the pages!

I received an ARC of this book thru NetGalley and Simon & Schuster and was under no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

This was one of my favorite books this year. It's one of those books that makes me wish there was something beyond five stars. It encompassed so much-- love, family, tradition, parenthood-- and all so beautifully. Roya's journey felt so genuine and true, and I felt her emotions palpably throughout. I hesitate to share too much of what I loved about it because I genuinely appreciated the elements of the story that caught me by surprise-- those moments that diverged from your typical romance, but suffice to say it captured the human experience in a truly stunning way.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this beautiful story.

This book.
Just wow.
This was such an emotional roller coaster to get through and I definitely shed tears throughout. I can only be thankful my copy is digital and the pages couldn't be ruined, as I can promise they would be with how much I cried.
I felt so fully immersed and once I started reading, I couldn't stop. I read this in one highly emotional sitting and connected deeply with Roya and her struggles. When she moves so far from home, I thought of my own journey in the name of education. When I learned of both Roya and Badri's experiences as mothers, I thought of the lost babies of those I love and also the ones who lived, who are growing and changing the world, even if it's just my world right now. This is the first time in a long-time I've been so moved by a book and I almost wish I had never read it, if only so I could experience it for the first time once more.

Although the start of this book is slow, if you can stand a slow burn sort of book, this one is definitely for you. I love a book set in a culture foreign to me and this fit that bill. Beautiful story, beautiful writing and amazing atmosphere. I loved this! The setting and story just draws you in if you let it, and I would say just let it!

#TheStationaryShop #NetGalley

Kamali offers us a romantic tale few of us will ever experience except through the pages of her book. Her characters are real and captivating. This story is memorizing, compelling, exploring how love transcends time and distance.

I decided to read this after reading reading the enthusiastic review from my GR friend, Elyse. Unfortunately I didn't respond in the same manner. There are parts of it that I really liked and parts that just drove me up the wall.

I don't know if it's because I am old and cranky but the romance section just dragged out so long I wanted to scream. It just went on and on. I know many people like that so this could be the book for you. I was more interested in the political situation of Iran in 1953. There was a democratic Prime Minister overthrown by the Shah, backed by the Americans. That was fascinating. In fact it was that political situation that broke up the young lovers, Roya and Bahman. Bahman is a staunch supporter of the Prime Minister.

The couple meet at a Stationery Shop that also operates as a post office for young lovers. Roya is determined to read all the foreign translated novels. Bahman enjoys the poetry. The romance blossoms and blossoms and blossoms.

I did enjoy the food descriptions. It all sounded quite delicious. I also liked the story of the two young sisters traveling to America on scholarship to Mills College in the Bay Area. It was quite interesting to read of them making new lives in America. This could have been a better book. for me, if there was less romance.

Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This book, about sisters living during the political turmoil in Iran in the 1950’s, started off so slow that I thought I might stop reading it. I’m glad I stuck with it though, because I ended up loving the love story of Roya and Bahman and the way political events fit in with the story. I also enjoyed reading about the family’s culture in Tehran and the foods that were so important to the girls.
This is a beautifully written book that will stay with me for a long time.

This beautifully-written story takes you to Tehran in the 1950s, on the eve of a revolution. Two teenagers fall in love, despite all odds, in a stationery store. The universe is determined to keep them apart, and when the time comes to run away and get married, the revolution is upon Iran and things don't go according to plan.

Told over a lifetime, this story was moving and heartbreaking. I loved learning about Roya's family, her journey to America, and how she expressed herself and her culture through food.

Many Americans have a very specific idea of what Iran looks like thanks to Western media and the lack of exposure contribute to an image of hijab clad women, sand swept cities, and religious fervor. I did manage to shed that image a few years back, I'm unsure of when, but I had managed to see some images of Tehran in 1950, back when it was more democratic and open. This inspired me to do some research and discover more about this country and smash the per-conceived ideas that the media had given me. Women with their hair bare to the sun, in stylish 1950s fashion, wearing lipstick and mingling in dance halls. It's a sharp contrast to the Iran that we see in the media today.

The Stationery Shop gives the reader a glimpse into the beautiful and vibrant world of 1950s Tehran. The food, the culture, and the politics of the time are central to this novel in creating a fully rounded experience. It's exquisitely written, with beautiful descriptions. I want to eat all of the food that was described within its pages. Now I just have to find an Iranian restaurant in Hangzhou, China. The characters were multi-faceted and fairly well developed on a whole. You feel for them and the turmoil in their lives.

I would recommend the Stationery shop for fans of sweeping family epics, star-crossed lovers, and romances that span distance and time.

Thank you for Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

A longer review of this novel will be going up on my blog on the 15th of June.

A story told over 60 years, the earliest introduction to Roya is as a high school girl living in 1953 Tehran. She, her sister, mother and father live a comfortable, if fairly modern life: her father wants his girls to be highly educated and successful, dreaming of the opportunities afforded by their forward-looking Prime Minister as he tries to bring a more democratic government into power, with opposition from the Shah’s supporters, Communists and other factions that are demonstrating, threatening and generally causing upheaval in the city. But Roya, a studious girl and lover of the translated classics as well as traditional Persian poets has found her ‘refuge’ in The Stationery Shop – where the papers, pens and books are everything a bibliophile could dream of. But, she also is enamored of Bahman, a friend of the owner Mr. Fakhri, a seriously politically active young man, destined to “change the world”. Mr. Fakhri is also beset with his own series of regrets and choices, having once lost the ‘love of his life’ to societal and parental expectations, he is fueling this young romance even as he warns Roya to proceed with caution.

Starting as a tale of young love as the naïve Roya is introduced to many ‘western’ activities: tango and waltz parties, coffee shops, political activism movies and dreams of ‘a democratic Iran, she and Bahman grow closer and fall in love. Even with the odds stacked against them – as his mother is most probably suffering from bipolar depression – untreated and unremarked on as this is ‘not polite”, she has made plans for Bahman, to become all that he can be with a rich and successful wife who’s family is tied to the Shah, not Roya, daughter of a simple government clerk. Roya’s family is also hesitant, her sister being the most vocal against the connection, and when plans are made for them to meet and marry in secret – presenting everyone with a fait accompli, Bahman and Roya don’t meet – in fact she is witness to the death of Mr. Fakhri in a demonstration.

Oh this story was E V E R Y T H I N G – from the young love and loss to the tumult of 1953 Iran, Roya’s subsequent emigration to study in California, and her marriage to a Boston-born law student. With all of the questions as to where they are now – or how things have been, the questions are never ending and the emotions, the what ifs, carry across miles and time. When she finally encounters Bahman’s son, running his father’s stationery store in a Boston suburb, the story comes full circle, and perhaps the two shall get answers to questions never asked. Told in multiple perspectives with a voice that not only ‘feels’ very authentic, but also details both daily life and customs and traditions in the very traditional Iranian culture, this was a ‘dip your toes into’ the smells, tastes and feel of Iran in the mid-20th century, told in ways that make the ‘different to your experience’ approachable and wholly tangible. For the prose, the voices and the convoluted story of a love that was derailed by others, the story comes to a lovely conclusion, with many answers and a sense of peace with the past, honoring both the cultures and experiences that brought them to now. The editor’s note talks about how emotionally compelling the story is, embedding itself into your pores no matter how long it is between returning to the story. I didn’t return to it – I devoured the story in a few hours, desperate to see if questions would be answered and discover if after it all, Roya would have wished for different.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-arL/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

What a delightful read about a country that often only gets negative attention from the media. I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Stationary Shop" by Marjan Kamali. I felt the pain of Roya and her sister who experienced incredible loss, not only of those she loved but of her very homeland. Reading the pages made me savor what I have, and long for what I don't have. A great summer read!