The lion women of Tehran

Homa and Ellie meet as children in the city of Tehran and form a seemingly unbreakable bond. Each has hopes and dreams of the future. Homa longs to become a judge so that she can right wrongs and create a more equitable community. Ellie learns the art of translation, but dreams of a kind husband and a large brood of children. Despite these differences, they become lifelong friends. Coming of age over three decades, the friends must also navigate their country's tumult, which includes social injustice, class divide, immigration disruptions, and the loss of women's rights. Kamali (The Stationery Shop, 2019) places food center stage with vivid descriptions, from the perfect New York pizza slice to traditional savory Iranian dishes, immersing readers in the culinary delights of Iranian cuisine especially--readers will virtually taste the food on the page. As these two remarkable women strive to overcome the hardships they face and fight for their rights, Kamali's narrative highlights the struggles of women in Iran and explores relationship challenges between friends and family. "Women. Life. Freedom."

The insightful latest from Kamali (The Stationary Shop) chronicles the decades-long friendship of two Iranian women whose lives are upended by their country's political upheaval. After seven-year-old Ellie's father dies from tuberculosis in 1950, she and her mother are forced to move to a smaller apartment in one of Tehran's poorer neighborhoods. At her new school, Ellie befriends a spirited classmate named Homa. Several years later, Ellie's mother remarries and they move to a better neighborhood, causing the girls to lose touch. Ellie later attends a prestigious high school and is mortified when Homa, who she now views as uncouth, becomes her classmate and greets her in front of her new friends ("Homa was my past. My two worlds were not supposed to collide"). They eventually rekindle their friendship, but are once again divided when Homa is imprisoned for protesting the shah in 1963. Later sections follow a married Ellie in 1981 New York City, where she receives a desperate letter sent by Homa from Tehran. Though there's not much of a plot, Kamali sustains the reader's interest by exploring the contrasts and sustained connection between the two central characters. This will resonate with fans of women's fiction. Agent: Wendy Sherman, Wendy Sherman Assoc. (July)

A lifetime of friendship endures many upheavals. Ellie and Homa, two young girls growing up in Tehran, meet at school in the early 1950s. Though their families are very different, they become close friends. After the death of Ellie's father, she and her difficult mother must adapt to their reduced circumstances. Homa's more warm and loving family lives a more financially constrained life, and her father, a communist, is politically active--to his own detriment and that of his family's welfare. When Ellie's mother remarries and she and Ellie relocate to a more exclusive part of the city, the girls become separated. They reunite years later when Homa is admitted to Ellie's elite high school. Now a political firebrand with aspirations to become a judge and improve the rights of women in her factionalized homeland, Homa works toward scholastic success and begins practicing political activism. Ellie follows a course, plotted originally by her mother, toward marriage. The tortuous path of the girls' adult friendship over the following decades is played out against regime change, political persecution, and devastating loss. Ellie's well-intentioned but naïve approach stands in stark contrast to Homa's commitment to human rights, particularly for women, and her willingness to risk personal safety to secure those rights. As narrated by Ellie, the girls' story incorporates frequent references to Iranian food, customs, and beliefs common in the years of tumult and reforms accompanying the Iranian Revolution. Themes of jealousy--even in close friendships--and the role of the shir zan, the courageous "lion women" of Iran who effect change, recur through the narrative. The heartaches associated with emigration are explored along with issues of personal sacrifice for the sake of the greater good (no matter how remote it may seem). A touching portrait of courage and friendship. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.