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A review by rapitash
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Although I tried to go into this book as blindly as possible, I fear that the blurb/summary of the novel gave me unrealistic expectations. Instead of a tragic story of two lovers who are torn apart by political machinations outside of their control, the novel delivered a much more generic love story that uses the 1953 Iranian coup as a backdrop more than as an actor. (And I would’ve loved to see more of the politics at the forefront, I can’t lie.)
It doesn’t help that I didn’t particularly care about Roya and Bahman’s relationship. There were red flags from the beginning, clearly more of an issue than the political context. It felt childish and puppy-esque, and for two people who had only known each other for six months and changed wildly after their engagement was over, it was hard to believe that they were still so devoted to each other.I wasn’t ever convinced that if they had married, they would’ve ended up happy, either, and so it disappointed me when the narrative had made it seem that there would've been more to their lives if they had remained together. It made me feel so bad for Walter. The back half of the novel was more engaging to me than the beginning, but it disappointed me because it skipped over so much time, and such pivotal moments in Roya’s life were glossed over. Like what happened with Roya’s parents? Apparently they never met her son and had stayed in Iran, but we don’t know when they died or what happened to them post the Iranian Revolution. On Bahman’s end, we never find out how he ended up in America, or how his life was impacted by the Iranian Revolution, which he had clearly lived through.
What did devastate me, however, wasBadri and Ali. Badri was 14 and knew Ali was going to take advantage of her. And while he was in love with her, that’s exactly what he did. The consequences of that relationship and Ali’s cowardice resulted in so much pain for Badri that it stuck with me after the novel, more so than what had happened with Roya and Bahman.
Overall, this was a very easy read, and I enjoyed the prose, but my lack of interest in Roya and Bahman made it difficult to enjoy. Every time I learnt something interesting about them it was glossed over, which made it hard for me to properly connect to them. I really wish that there had been more of an intertwined narrative with some of the other characters—Zari comes to mind, more Mrs Aslan, and potentially Walter, who I liked a lot, or even more Claire—if only because their stories had felt more interesting to me.
It doesn’t help that I didn’t particularly care about Roya and Bahman’s relationship. There were red flags from the beginning, clearly more of an issue than the political context. It felt childish and puppy-esque, and for two people who had only known each other for six months and changed wildly after their engagement was over, it was hard to believe that they were still so devoted to each other.
What did devastate me, however, was
Overall, this was a very easy read, and I enjoyed the prose, but my lack of interest in Roya and Bahman made it difficult to enjoy. Every time I learnt something interesting about them it was glossed over, which made it hard for me to properly connect to them. I really wish that there had been more of an intertwined narrative with some of the other characters—Zari comes to mind, more Mrs Aslan, and potentially Walter, who I liked a lot, or even more Claire—if only because their stories had felt more interesting to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Abortion