The Stationery Shop

Chapter One begins in a senior care facility in New England in 2013. Seventy-seven year-old Roya Archer has come to visit a resident named Bahman Aslan. They haven't seen each other in sixty years, and until a few days ago, she had no idea he was even in the United States, let alone within driving distance. Roya has one question to ask the man before her.

Flashback to the summer of 1953 in Tehran, Iran. Seventeen year-old Roya loves to spend time in The Stationary Shop owned by Mr. Fakhri. She never tires of looking at the expertly crafted fountain pens, the bottles of ink and boxes of stationary in every color, and reading the beautiful books of poetry. It is in this small shop where she meets a handsome young man named Bahman. Over the summer, with the subtle encouragement of Mr. Fakhri, the two fall deeply in love.

The young couple have steep obstacles to overcome before they can start their life together. Bahman's mother is mentally ill and threatens to kill herself if he marries Roya. Also, there is much political upheaval in Iran in 1953. Several factions are plotting to overthrow the current ruler, and Bahman is working covertly for one of the factions. Bahman asks Roya to have patience.

Word gets to Roya to meet Bahman at a certain time and.place in the market square, where they will get married. She waits for hours, but he doesn't show up. In fact, he disappears.

Eventually Roya travels to the United States to attend a university, settles down and marries a very good man named Walter, and they make a life together. But, try as she might, she never forgot the young man she had loved with all her heart.

Now, sixty years later, she can finally get an answer to her question. Why didn't he show up that day in the square?

This book was rather difficult to get into in the beginning. I didn't know much about Iranian history and the unfamiliar names were hard to keep straight. But eventually all my senses became immersed in the culture. I could hear, taste, smell, and feel Tehran. Combine that with a beautiful but heartbreaking love story.... It was very well written. What can I say? I loved this book! Five stars.

I stumbled across Marjan Kamali when reading a preview for the Lion of Tehran and thought Stationary Shop looked interesting. So glad I picked it up!

I remember the 1979 exile of the Iranian Shah but knew none of the country’s history . Kamali does a great job using several pivotal moments in Irans history as a backdrop to a love story mixing culture and historical events of 2 characters lifetimes.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to dive into her newly released novel!

Such a beautiful book. By far a personal favorite (I am sure I will re-read it soon). It was beautifully written, and I knew I had to reach out to Marjan Kamali on instagram to let her know how much I loved the story. Lovely as could be, she responded and we had a short conversation about the story and I will never forget how nice and grateful she was. Authors who interact with their audience are treasures

Going into the book I didn’t know much about it, especially about the different timelines, and I loved it. The way it was written made this such an enjoyable read, I finished it in one day. The characters in the story were strong and (most of them) well rounded. Every character had a purpose, especially the antagonists and the ones you think are just background characters, you will be surprised. And this story will make you feel ALL the feels. I mean it. You will cry, you will laugh (it is so funny, especially Roya’s mom lol), you will be enraged, and mad, and in awe, etc.

I appreciated the culture and history that we got. I wish we could have gotten to see a little more from Bahman but because of he POV and him being an Activist it would have been difficult, because the main characters were not together all the time. In fact, we only get to see and feel what Roya tells us from her side, so I understand if some people don’t feel the “love” connection”. But we have to remember that they fell in love in the 1950s - some people got married after only seeing each other twice for like an hour, (like my grandparents lol). But there are so many themes besides young love in this story, like motherhood, forgiveness, migration, politics and culture, and other love stories.

Spoilers: Everything came full circle by the end, and it wasn’t just to tie a beautiful bow at the end but for closure. This is not only a book about young love but of loss. The loss of a child, the loss of a friend, the loss of love, loss of your family (migration to the US), and so much more, and finding peace with it all.

Let me start by saying this is out of my typical reading genre. I got this book as a result of one of those Blind Date with a Book offerings and liked it so much that I bought another copy for a friend.

This following section is basically a synopsis with no real spoilers, but if you're someone who doesn't read the inside of the jacket cover, you may want to skip this section.

This story centers around a young boy and a girl (Bahman and Roya) who fall in love in 1953 Iran. The political turmoil is great. The threat of violence is ever present and it's hard to know who is a spy and who is on the political side you favor. When the young couple meet in a stationary shop, it is instant attraction. Each Tuesday they continue to meet until Bahman asks Roya to marry him. Not everyone is pleased with this match however. Bahman's mom, in particular, is vehemently opposed. Bahman, who is a political activist, needs to escape from the city and abruptly leaves. Roya knows little but she corresponds with him through letters hidden inside of books in the stationary shop. Bahman suggests they meet in the square and spontaneously get married. This never happens leaving Roya to always wonder why he stood her up that fateful day.

This book is a surprising gem. I enjoyed so many things about it. I was pulled into Bahman and Roya's love story. The idea of young love and knowing that there are so many obstacles that stand in the way of their happiness was attention grabbing and heartbreaking. Learning so much about the political climate of Iran in 1953 was quite interesting. Furthermore, all of the cultural elements that were included in the text rounded this book out nicely. I enjoyed reading about customs, traditions, the culinary practices, and how America may have been viewed by Iranians during that time in history.

Kamali did a great job developing the characters. It was easy to love Roya as both a young girl and the woman she eventually becomes. I felt her loss and struggle along the way. On the other hand, certain characters were easy to dislike because of their actions. In some ways, this book is so well written that I felt like I was tagging along for Roya's entire journey.

Highly recommended!

I just received the book. The first thing I noticed is the paper quality and the pages were cut in an unusual manner. Then I read many reviews which said the same. Is it done on purpose? Maybe. Are they trying to recreate the books from 1953- the stationary shop in Tehran as plotted in the book? Let me believe that and go ahead and finish the book.

I actually give this book a 3.5 star rating. The story is wonderful. My major problem is that the author missed an incredible opportunity to really educate the reader in the historical facts. I love a good historical novel that teaches details of the time period that's taking place. I knew very little of Iranian history and had hoped for more information. I came away still not knowing much. I really wish she had incorporated more of this instead of the endless flowery words that acted more as fillers. Some were repetitive and not necessary. The other con was the abrupt jumping of decades. I believe it could have been done more fluidly. But that's my personal preference. I did however enjoy the story, the themes and the Persian food. 😊 Her descriptions were so good that I could literally smell it and my senses longed to taste it. I would definitely read another title by this author . But I would like to see her put more research into the time period and incorporate them in her stories. One thing, the Harry Truman quote is priceless! Especially for the young who think they know everything. It's definitely something we all should remember.