The Persians A Novel

Five women. Three generations. A mountain of family history.

Shortlisted for The Women’s Prize

“Unputdownable.” —HARPER’S BAZAAR UK
“Snortingly funny.” —THE TIMES (LONDON)
“Sweeping and irreverent.” —BBC
“Life-affirming.” —THE OBSERVER
“Thoroughly refreshing.” —FINANCIAL TIMES

The Valiat family is in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution with only the Islamic-law-breaking Niaz for company. Meanwhile, in America, Shirin, Seema, and Bita are wondering if life in the "land of plenty" is all they had hoped for. When an annual vacation goes wildly awry and Shirin is arrested, long-held Valiat family secrets begin to surface. As their lives are turned upside down, could revealing the truth save their family, or might it break them apart once and for all?

Sanam Mahloudji is an American writer born in Tehran and based in London. She is the winner of a Pushcart Prize for her fiction and was nominated for a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Her writing has appeared in McSweeney’s, The Idaho Review, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. Her debut novel The Persians has been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize.