Monday, Dec 6, 7:00 pm – Join us on Zoom to discuss The Stationery Shop with local author Marjan Kamali! All are welcome. Email Brittany for the link: btuttle@minlib.net.
Roya is a dreamy, idealistic teenager living in 1953 Tehran who, amidst the political upheaval of the time, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood book and stationery shop. She always feels safe in his dusty store, overflowing with fountain pens, shiny ink bottles, and thick pads of soft writing paper.
When Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—she loses her heart at once. And, as their romance blossoms, the modest little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.
A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square, but suddenly, violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she resigns herself to never seeing him again.
Until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did he leave? Where did he go? How was he able to forget her?
Marjan Kamali, born in Turkey to Iranian parents, spent her childhood in Kenya, Germany, Turkey, Iran, and the United States. She studied English Literature at UC Berkeley and received her MBA from Columbia University and her MFA from New York University. She is the author of two novels: The Stationery Shop (Gallery/Simon&Schuster) and Together Tea (Ecco/HarperCollins). The Stationery Shop, a national best-seller, was one of NPR’s best books of the year, a Real Simple magazine Top Editor’s Pick, an Indie Next Pick, and an excerpt was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. It is being translated into over a dozen languages and adapted into a series for HBO. Marjan’s debut novel, Together Tea, was a Massachusetts Book Award Finalist, an NPR WBUR Good Read, and a Target Emerging Author Selection. It has been translated into several languages and adapted for the stage. Marjan’s work has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in two anthologies. Marjan teaches writing at GrubStreet and lives with her family in the Boston area. Visit her at www.marjankamali.com, Facebook @MarjanKamaliAuthor, Instagram @marjankamali7, and Twitter @MarjanKamali.