Don't call it a love story

Despite my aversion to all things "Happily Ever After", I was inclined to pick up The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali because 1) it was described as a bittersweet love story, 2) it's set in Iran, and 3) Shelbey from Shelbey and The Bookstore raved about it (don't watch the video until after you've read the book!)

I honestly didn't feel this was a love story, per se. I personally didn't feel the deep and abiding love between Roya and Bahman but there was definitely something and I felt that. The novel starts off in 2013, in America, with Roya and Walter discussing making an appointment to see an old friend at a nearby nursing home. We really don't know much except that Bahman, the elderly man in the nursing home, broke Roya's heart.

Back in 1953, in Iran, Roya and her sister Zari are listening to their Baba proclaim how they are going to become SOMEBODY. Baba is incredibly progressive for the place and time and he wants his daughters getting a good education, becoming scientists, writers, great woman. Zari doesn't seem destined for any of that and Roya has her head in books all the time (I can relate). Roya's favorite place to visit is The Stationary Shop, where shop owner Mr. Fakhri sets aside books and other stationary items for Roya. 

One day, Bahman, a young man around Roya's age, blows into the shop and back out. But not without the two of them noticing each other. Mr. Fakhri is adamant that Bahman will change the world but jusst as adamant that Roya stay away from him. During this time in Iran, there is political unrest, to put it lightly, and Bahman is in the center of the activist world. True love is apparently meant to be as Bahman and Roya get together, with Mr. Fakhri even helping a bit.

Because this is a really wonderful journey for Roya, I'm loathe to spoil anything. Suffice it to say, Bahman breaks Roya's heart (but does he?) and she moves on to America for an education and a new life. 

I didn't see so much a love story as I saw a desperate need for mental illness to be recognized and addressed. I saw a desperate need for abortion to be considered essential health care. I saw generational trauma, when adults push their issues and trauma on to kids and the trauma-can keeps getting kicked down the road. I saw the need for gender equality (thank goodness for Baba!). 

There is so much more to this book than a love story. 

Interview with the author