SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2026

A captivating, polyphonic novel of one family’s flight from and return to Iran.

1979. Behzad, a young communist...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2026

A captivating, polyphonic 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.