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    Septembers of Shiraz: A Novel
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    Septembers of Shiraz: A Novel
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    Septembers of Shiraz: A Novel
    Ebook323 pages5 hours

    Septembers of Shiraz: A Novel

    By Dalia Sofer

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Soon to be a major motion picture starring Adrien Brody and Salma Hayek

    In the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, rare-gem dealer Isaac Amin is arrested, wrongly accused of being a spy. Terrified by his disappearance, his family must reconcile a new world of cruelty and chaos with the collapse of everything they have known. As Isaac navigates the terrors of prison, and his wife feverishly searches for him, his children struggle with the realization that their family may soon be forced to embark on a journey of incalculable danger.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061808661
    Unavailable
    Septembers of Shiraz: A Novel
    Author

    Dalia Sofer

    Dalia Sofer was born in Iran and fled at the age of ten to the United States with her family. She is the recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award and has been a resident at Yaddo. A graduate of the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College, she lives in New York City.

    Read more from Dalia Sofer

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    Reviews for Septembers of Shiraz

    4/5

    59 ratings41 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Fantastic story and book. I first came across this as I am a huge Adrien Brody fan and try to see every one of his films as my library gets them. The movie was excellent, so I decided to get the book as well. It is far far more detailed than the movie with loads of people that are not in the film.

      I highly recommend this book and hope she comes out with another one soon.

      A
    • 5/5
      This is an engaging work of fiction, based on facts. I congratulate the author, Dalia Sofer. It leaves me with some measure of pain to realize what Iran must have been like before the revolution that devoured its artists and its great art.
    • 5/5
      An amazing story about a Jewish gem dealer who is arrested and thrown into prison in Iran. He has done nothing wrong. His home and possessions are taken from the family. They work tirelessly to find him. Very heart wrenching and eye opeining.
    • 4/5
      well written book presenting many views of the Iranian revolution. The details were so painful and truthful that it was not a pleasant read.
    • 4/5
      A tragic and haunting novel about Isaac Amin who is a wealthy gem merchant in post revolutionary Iran. He is not particularily religious or political but the Revolutionary guards arrest him and throw him in prison. His son, who they sent to NYC is trying to find his way but struggles with who he is as he lives amongst Hassidic jews who have befriended him . Can this religion be his future he thinks as he looks at Zalman's daughter Rachel. With Parviz we learn how the emigrant form Iran must adapt once they lose their country. Isaac wife and daughter must learn how to adapt to a life where wealth and priviledge is not an asset and where 9 year old Shirin asks questions of her life which noone can answer. Isaac does get out of prison and then the family must escape to Turkey and then they hope to Switzerland where Isaac's sister is and then join their son in NYC.This novel tells it like it is inpost revolutionary Iran as people lose hope of a normal life in their country,
    • 3/5
      Well written and engaging, but not quite good enough to deserve a fourth star — or the enthusiastic reviews that encouraged me to read the book. I would have liked more character development and perhaps a less easily perfect ending.
    • 4/5
      Dalia Sofer's, "The Septembers of Shiraz" was the first book I read by this author. I selected the text based upon my interest in Middle East history. This story took place at a time when just about everyone in the country of Iran seemed to have a common enemy--The Monarchy, and they wanted it overthrown--this was accomplished with the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

      Unfortunately for Iranians, they soon realized that after the overthrow of their common enemy(ies), Prime Minister Mossaddegh and The Shah, coupled with the return of Ayatollah Khomeini, that the new regime was much worse than what the citizenry had fought for and enivisioned for themselves. This realization was eloquently captured by the author when one of her characters stated the following, "We wanted to put an end to the monarchy [SIC]. We thought we were cheering for democracy. So many different groups marched together--the Communists, the Labor Party, the Party of the Masses, you name it. Add to that the religious fundamentalists. What brought us together was our hatred for the shah [SIC]. But there wasn't much else to keep us together. In the end, we unleashed a monster" (pp. 124-125), and many of them remained attached to it, typically leading people to prison, torture, and sometimes death..

      Reasons for imprisonment and execution were as follows: unknown reason, communist party (Tudeh) member, being Jewish, being Baha'i, "the sha's [SIC] friends, generals, henchmen; anyone who was not liked was or [Sic] no longer fit in" (pp. 10-11). The author communicated that there existed a religion hierarchy beneath Islam: Baha'i was lower, or considered worse than, Judaism. Newly illegal acts included "drinking alcohol...along with singing, listening to music, going out with uncovered hair..." (pg. 25). Any indications of liking or not disliking The Shah most likely resulted in a worsened punishment and/or arrest of family members and friends

      Prison flattened the socioeconomic status of all members of society. The same thing seemed to be occuring outside the prison as well. In fact, anyone of means was being viewed as not having earned their money. The less wealthy suddenly had a new power to assert and believed that someone else's money belonged to them. This paradigm was being indoctrinated throughout the country.

      Indoctrination took more than one form, and it was aggressively taught, including at the elementary school level. Children were asked, hypothetically, if they would volunteer to be child soldiers for "the cause," and those that said they would were rewarded with relief from homework. The children did not really understand what it was that they were volunteering to do. The author revealed that children were being used to clear landmines so the adult soldiers could focus on actual combat.

      Dalia Sofer wanted the reader to understand that the fear of death occurred on a quotidian basis. She communicated this aspect very well. The author also wanted the reader to either understand and/or visualize the following:
      --Calmness of life prior to The Revolution;
      --Constant finger pointing, mistrust, lies, and set-ups;
      --Massive reversal of fortune;
      --Revenge and brutality;
      --Corruption; and,
      --Devaluing of women and children.

      Ms. Sofer accomplished her goals and easily established that there was a higher level of happiness and predictability in one's life prior to The Revolution. I thought that she could have done more to explain the deep religious fervor that people used as reasoning for the new, extremely conservative laws. I appreciated that she provided information about her family's escape from Iran, to include her actions and thoughts on the morning of departure. She expressed, "This is how I imagined my life catalogued and summed up" (pg. 3, Epilogue). It made me wonder, how would my life would be summarized and viewed.

      Sofer's book maintained a consistent level of predictability; at times the characters could have been placed in any other story and viewed the same way as in this book. Overall, the book was beautifully written with just the right amount of intensity that made the book a page-turner.
    • 5/5
      What a wonderful book! I know very little of the revolution in Iran, but my heart breaks for everyone in this story. Obviously, as others have outlined, the story is about a Jewish family caught in the violence of the revolution. But it is about so much more than that as well. Although the Amin family is the center of the story and Isaac's torture is heartbreaking,even peripheral characters are memorable: the young boy (who we never even see) running in the prison where is father is the torturer, the guard Hossein who fulfills his position as guard yet maintains a shread of compassion, the young friends of Isaac's daughter who are living a childhood surrounded by forces well beyond their control or understanding.This book will remain with me. It clearly portrays that nothing is simple--tradition, politics, family ties, religion, wealth and poverty all intermingle. I would highly recommend this book. Not only does it provide one viewpoint of a very tumultuous time, it provides a glimpse into the background for much of what is happening in the Middle East today. Regardless of what political stand one takes on the Middle East situation, families are being torn apart on all sides and for all of us, home is a very special place.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      In 1981 in Tehran, after the fall of the Shah, Isaac Amin, a Jewish rare gem dealer, is arrested, accused of being a spy. He isn’t really surprised at this turn of events because although the idea of his being a spy is ludicrous, he has watched as friends and other businessmen have disappeared, probably imprisoned or executed by the revolutionary Guard. All of these individuals have one thing in common: they lived well during the reign of the Shah.Dalia Sofer’s debut novel, written in hauntingly beautiful prose, explores the effects of the Iranian Revolution on the general population and particularly, on one family. It is told through the view points of Amin, his wife Farnaz, his nine year old daughter Sharin and his teenage son, Parviz, who is going to school in New York. She very even-handedly articulates both sides and allows the reader to appreciate the revolution for what it was and why it was important to both sides. Additionally, by using multiple viewpoints, it was easy to observe the effects on all involved. When Isaac describes his experiences in prison, as horrifying as torture is, Sofer tempers it so that the reader knows exactly what is happening without dwelling on the act itself. It’s the only thing that makes that part readable and different from other books that include descriptions of torture.As the family considers leaving the country they love, but don’t feel safe in anymore, feelings of heartbreak overwhelm.Isaac thinks of the cities ahead of him---Ankara, Istanbul, Geneva, New York---and of the cities behind him---Tehran, where his home stands, empty now of life; Ramsar by the Caspian, its air filled with fog; Isfahan, with its domes of blue; Yazd, where brick alleys shelter its inhabitants from the daytime heat and nighttime freeze of the desert, and where the undying flame of Zoroastrians burns in a small urn of oil; and his beloved Shiraz, the city of his youthful summers, where he discovered both poetry and Farnaz, and where, along the mausoleums of the medieval poets Hafez and Sa’di, he recited verses, finding his future in them.” (Page 336)We follow this family through a year filled with dismay and terror, ending with a dangerous flight to freedom and I, for one, was impressed with this strong debut. Highly recommended.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      considering the serious subject this was an easy book to read. while giving details on torture methods it was not gruesome. maybe that left the reader wanting more depth, but if it would be more graphic, it may be too hard to read. overall the characters was believable and the story had a good flow. switching the view from one character to the next kept me interested.
    • 4/5
      While at times I found The Septembers of Shiraz a compelling read, ultimately I didn't find it very satisfying. Maybe I've read too many books about political oppression and torture all around the world in the last few years. Sofer's story of the tribulations of Iranian-Jewish Amin family suffers, I think, from a third person omniscient viewpoint spread too thinly among the four members of Amin family: readers are not only privy to the thoughts and experiences of Isaac, a gem dealer arrested by the Revolutionary Guards, but also to his wife, Farnaz; his son Parviz, who has been sent to university in New York; and to his young daughter, Shirin. I generally appreciate multiple viewpoints in a novel, but here the shifting viewpoints seem to give the readers diluted characters and lessening tension.
    • 4/5
      As an Iranian secular Jew, Isaac Amin's life is swept off-course by the Iranian revolution when he is arrested on false charges of being a Zionist spy. Septembers of Shiraz follows the stories of Isaac, his wife Farnaz, and his two children. I should have really liked this story: the cultural setting is interesting and the frightening circumstances should be emotionally engaging. Unfortunately, I didn't feel any emotion about the characters until the last third of the book. I'm not sure why this was...they just seemed distant. This fact is unfortunate since an emotional bond to the characters is really all this book had to offer me. I didn't learn anything new about the Iranian revolution or the types of problems non-revolutionary citizens faced, since I've already read other books on the subject. Not that the story is boring or unoriginal, quite the contrary. I think it would be an excellent book for someone who hasn't read much on the subject of the Iranian Revolution, or for someone who loves reading books on the subject.
    • 4/5
      [The Septembers of Shiraz] was the story of a wealthy Jewish family caught in the Iranian revolution after the ousting of the Shah. It's told from the point of view of each of the four family members. It took me half the book before I began to really care about the characters but in the end, I found the book haunting.
    • 3/5
      I wanted to like this book much more than I actually did, but I'm not exactly sure why. The subject matter of the book is interesting, the fate of a wealthy Jewish family after the fall of the Shah and the rise of the Republican Guard in Iran, and the writing has poetic moments.The book has a strong opening. When Isaac Amin sees two men with rifles walk into his office at half past noon on a warm autumn day in Tehran, his first thought is that he won't be able to join his wife and daughter for lunch, as promised. Imprisoned for having accumulated wealth under the Shah, and the vague accusation of spying for Israel, Isaac suffers the vagaries and brutality of the new regime. In alternating chapters we experience the viewpoints of other members of Isaac's family. His wife, Farnaz, is dissatisfied with her life, but rather unthinkingly enjoys the privileges of her position. Through her relationship with the family's housekeeper, Farnaz is made aware of the gap between her perceptions of class relationships and that of others. Parvis, Isaac's son, has been sent to New York in order to avoid being drafted into the army and fighting in the war with Iraq. Unhappy and adrift, Parvis contemplates his lack of direction and his apathy towards Judaism. The youngest member of the family, Shirin, is struggling to understand her father's disappearance. I found the characters of Isaac and Parvis to be the most compelling. Isaac is reflective and honest, and Parvis is well-depicted as a young man in search of himself. Farnaz, however, fails to undergo any significant character development, which leaves her character rather flat. Shirin, on the other hand, seems to change too much too fast, from a rather naive little girl to the most daring member of her family in her resistance to the regime.Based loosely on the author's own experiences, I thought the novel had a lot of potential. I just wasn't as engaged as the plot required. Perhaps because this is a first novel, perhaps because I wasn't in the right frame of mind when reading it, I was vaguely dissatisfied with what had the makings of a great novel.
    • 4/5
      Among other literary abilities, Sofer has the (paradoxical) ability to write in a gentle way about torture. I found myself caught up in the husband's story during his imprisonment and the wife's attempt to keep herself and Shirin together. A number of Fulmore MS students are reading this book as part of the Austin Mayor's Book Club Challenge, and we will be at the City Hall events honoring the author on April 24th. Also, a parent donated 10 copies of the book for students @ Fulmore and many students have persuaded their parents to purchase the book.
    • 5/5
      Iran, early 1980s. The Shah has been overthrown, and the rebels have taken over the country. Isaac Amin is a wealthy jeweler, Jewish in name only but that hardly matters to the rebels. As the book opens, Isaac is arrested at his office by the Revolutionary Guards. His wife Farnaz is at home awaiting his arrival for lunch. When he fails to show up, she realizes what has happened and is devastated, as is their 9-year-old daughter Shirin. Their son, 19-year-old Parviz, is attending college in New York City and has his own problems. The family's story is told in alternating chapters by all four. A fascinating read that places the political climate of Iran at that time in history on a personal level as it relates to one family. Strong themes of loyalty and betrayal, religion, capitalism, and familial love. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Well written & compelling, The Septembers of Shiraz follows the members of the Jewish-Iranian Amin family, after Isaac, the father, is imprisoned by the Revolutionary Guard.
    • 4/5
      I felt for Farnaz and Shirin the most. They were alone with no information on Isaac. I thought Farnaz did her best to deal with Isaac’s arrest even though their marriage wasn’t exactly what you called perfect. I was very impressed how Shirin dealt with her father being arrested. Especially when she did hide those files. It might have made a difference and with that little act, it could have saved some lives. The story was well written and did tug on a lot of emotions while reading. Isaac’s time in prison was filled with despair and you could feel his hope fading away as he counts the days of his time spent there. The book was filled with close calls, and immediate suspicion among characters as to who’s playing the role of informant. As a reader, you could really feel Shirin’s tension and fright over being exposed for what she’s done. I wasn’t sure what to make on the separate story arc on Parviz. It was interesting as he was struggling with his own identity, yet I felt that it wasn’t as interesting as the main story arc that was taking place in Iran. I felt as if that story arc was added just for the sake of adding more to the plot.Overall, the story is beautifully written and emotional. There is an inkling of hope at the end of the novel and the reader is only left with wonder at the outcome of the characters in the book. I do recommend others to read this book. There’s not many you see that takes place in Iran in this particular time in history.
    • 4/5
      'The father, who supported the Shah, is arrested at the beginning of the book, and the remainder portrays what happened to him, his wife, their daughter, and their son in American afterwards. The four different lives, and how each person chose to live, were interesting and believable. The writing was just slightly flat, however.
    • 4/5
      Dalia Sofer’s debut novel, The Septembers of Shiraz, shows how detrimental the Iranian Revolution was for many of Iran’s citizens. Isaac Amin was a rare gem dealer who was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards in September 1981. Isaac was Jewish and had prospered well under the Shah, which made him suspicious in the eyes of the new regime. He was transported to prison where he was questioned, tortured and accused of being a Zionist spy.The story shifts from Isaac’s point of view to that of his wife, Farnaz; his young daughter, Shirin; and his son, Parviz, a college student living in New York. The alternating viewpoints showed how each family member dealt with the sudden disappearance of Isaac. With emotions ranging from fear to courage, the Amin family tried to manage their day-to-day lives without the presence of their patriarch.I found The Septembers of Shiraz to be a captivating read. The Iranian Revolution is an unfamiliar topic for me, and the rigid conditions of this time make me wonder how anyone escaped arrest and execution. I rooted for each member of the Amin family as they struggled with Isaac’s imprisonment. Sofer’s writing style was lyrical yet approachable, drawing her readers into the story. If you are a fan of historical fiction, I would recommend this amazing story. I look forward to more books by this talented young author.
    • 4/5
      Dalia Sofer, who was forced to flee postrevolutionary Iran at the age of ten after her own father was unjustly imprisoned, captures her family's experiences in this moving, semiautobiographical tale. Citing Sofer's evocative prose, sensitive characterizations, and suspenseful plot, reviewers called Sofer's debut novel persuasive and memorable. Though she ruminates on themes of faith, love, and the heavy toll of political and religious oppression, Sofer's honesty and balanced outlook prevent the story from lapsing into sensational melodrama or lurid allegory. Her descriptions of torture, though vivid, are not gratuitously violent. A few small complaints included some contrived dialogue and Parviz's annoying self-pity, but critics agreed that these do not detract from an otherwise "powerful, timely book" .
    • 3/5
      I've tried to read this three times and have always only made it three-fourths of the way through. It's one of those books that starts out very strong and then peters out. The writing at the beginning is especially stellar, with excellent style and imagery. I even used an excerpt as an example for an English class I taught. However, as the story went on, I found myself losing interest in what happened to the characters.
    • 4/5
      The Septembers of Shiraz is a story of a Jewish Iranian family, caught up in the wake of post-Iranian Revolution political turmoil as the father, Isaac, is accused of being a spy. He is sent to prison, without rights or recourse, and his wife and young daughter consequently also face suspicion by the authorities. Meanwhile their son Parviz is studying in America, removed from the political violence in Iran in some sense but also subject to it as he sees his family struggle.It's a difficult book, to say the least. The books's implicit criticism of the new regime is brutal; Isaac once half-heartedly commends the shah to his cellmates as "you only got arrested if you actually did something. Awful as it was, the regime had a logic. This government simply wants to destroy human beings, regardless of what they may or may not have done. Its goal is to annihilate."An overly simplistic contrast between the two political powers, and definitely a misrepresentation of what post-Revolution "goals" might have been. Nevertheless, the lack of nuance to Isaac's political opinions reveal his own lack of involvement - of any sort - with the government. His family is apolitical and not very religious, swept up in power struggles they don't understand. Yet the unrelenting force by which the regime operates disallows indifference; everyone, one way or another, will be caught up in its wake.
    • 5/5
      We read to go other places, to sample other lives. Reading, for me, at times lets me escape into lives I’d never want to lead, into places I’d never want to go. The Septembers of Shiraz takes me deep into these lives I’d never lead, places I’d never go. Isaac Amin, along with his wife, his young daughter, and even his son in distant America, suffer the changes revolution in Iran creates. The persecuted become the persecutors. There is no safe place. Fear and anger breed more fear and anger. Hatred generates more hatred. Amin’s imprisonment spins and bends everything the family has believed and loved. Is it wrong to overlook the cruelties inflicted on the weak? How do you decide whether to remain in a familiar now dangerous place or dare to start a new life from scratch? Should one save a few strangers while risking one’s family? I couldn’t stop reading this story. Would Amin live or die? Would the family stay or go? How had the pain inflicted on the jailers affect the way the jailers treated the jailed? Who were the good guys? How did the world become such a mess and how could it ever be made right? This was a powerful book, beautifully told, that generated question after question in my mind long after I read the last page and closed the book.
    • 5/5
      Lightly written story of a family's trauma during the Islamic Revolution when their father and husband, Isaac Amin, is taken to prison. The author describes each family member's reactions to this situation which helps the reader understand the setting from several perspectives. Although this is a novel, it is loosely based on the author's own experiences.
    • 4/5
      A moving story of a year in the life of an Iranian family in post-Shah Iran. This story weaves together the threads of one family's experiences when the father is imprisoned and tortured and the reverberations which resonate throughout three generations. The characters are so believable in all of their humanity, including their foibles, their strengths, their courage, and their fear. On a societal level there is a thread which addresses varied forms of faith, its true believers and its false ones. The human spirit is driven to survive, and it is amazing what a person can endure to do so.
    • 4/5
      This was a book for one of my RL book groups. It is set in Iran after the Islamic Revolution. The main character is the head of a Jewish family. He is a jeweler and rich. They are not religious Jews, but they are also not Muslim so the new regime targets them.The POV Isaac Amin is arrested at his office one day. They don't say why or who is behind it. So begins his journey as a prisoner of the regime. He is moved around, interrogated and accused of being an Israeli spy. He visits Israel and has relatives in the Israeli army (all young Israeli males are in their Army). But they have nothing specific to charge that he has done wrong. He is housed with other men who have been arrested. He tries to work out what is the best thing to do to stay in the good graces of the guards and interrogators. Some of the other men and teens are taken out and shot, some are tortured and returned to the cell broken and bleeding.The other thread of the book is his wife and daughter as they try to find out what happened to him, where he is, and if they can get him out. His wife Farnaz seems to be useless, she has a maid and normally does nothing. When Isaac is taken she becomes even more depressed. The new regime had already sapped her strength, and she just watched TV and drank. She waits months to tell his parents that he has been arrested. His daughter Shirin tries to maintain her life at school. She ends up finding files the regime is compiling on those they want to arrest. They are hidden in the basement at a friend's house. Her friend's father is part of the regime. Shirin starts stealing them. While doing so she finds one for her uncle. Her meddling disrupts the friend's father and he loses his job. There is an investigation launched to find who stole the files.There is also a grown son, Parviz, with his own thread. They sent him to the USA to avoid the draft. They don't want him to fight in the war with Iraq. He is going to college in NYC and lives in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn. He is struggling to survive, and yet thinks getting a job would be pointless. Somehow they had looked at universities in London and Paris and were going to buy him an apartment wherever he decided to go, but he was sent to the USA with no financial support. They are rich and just drift along with no sense of urgency or planning. It makes no sense. We follow Parviz as as he drifts along. He has a Hasidic landlord whom finally forces Parviz to work for him. Parviz also starts to fall for his daughter, but of course its not possible because Parviz is not even religious let alone Hasidic. We see the committed close-knit religious family who have goals and priorities.While in prison Isaac reminisces about his younger life and how he spent time in Shiraz. It becomes a symbol for freedom, lightness, love and laughter, but I have no idea why. It isn't really developed that well in the book. Isaac talks about it, but it isn't real for me.The story follows the family as they deal with Isaac's imprisonment and his eventual release. It looks at the relationships they have with other family members, friends, and the poor Muslims who work for them or in shops they frequent. It was well written and flowed, but seemed to lack something. Perhaps there is no sense of drama, and some of the characters are not real, or interesting. I enjoyed it but thought it could have been better. Not quite bland but in that neighborhood. Many of the characters just drifted along and didn't have a focus or a goal.
    • 4/5
      Beautifully written story of a Jewish family in Iran after the Revolution and their son who is attending school in New York. The father, a jeweller, is suspected of being a spy and is arrested and thrown into prison, and the family finds itself waiting, hoping for his release. I was particularly struck by the scenes of the father in prison, the other prisoners and conditions of prison, and the head jailer and his exchanges with Isaac (the father).
    • 4/5
      More than just relevant...Just beautiful and wrenching.
    • 4/5
      The Septembers of Shiraz was an unexpected pleasure that really struck me with both its story and the beautiful writing. There may be more skillful writers out there, but the way this story is told is an ideal vessel for the interwoven stories of the people affected by the turbulent, violent changing Iranian governments in the mid-eighties. Ms. Sofer's words are spare and poetic, but not overly so. Not only is it the story of Isaac Amin, a gems dealer wrongly accused and jailed (and brutally beaten) for being a spy, but one of his daughter and wife, left behind to live in fear for his life and theirs. Another wonderful off-shoot is the story of the Americanized son Parviz, living in NYC for architecture college, and his landlords/neighbors, a devout Jewish family. The minor characters also shine, such as the maid, who while always friends with the wife, suddenly views her differently and has grown to hate her employer's past riches. The uneasy friendship treads new and very sad water. This book could easily get splintered and disoriented, but it doesn't. It is a beautiful "slice of life" medly of tales of persecution, change, escape and renewal, in various stages of development. I was very young during these events, but this novel makes it clear how little we know of the lives of people who suffer behind the global headlines. Highly recommended.