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The Septembers of Shiraz

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 3,331 ratings · 609 reviews

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 tedium and terrors of prison, forging tenuous trusts, his wife feverishly searches for him, suspe...more

Hardcover, 340 pages

Published July 24th 2007 by Ecco (first published 2007)

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Aug 09, 2007 Gloria rated it 5 of 5 stars

A can't-put-it-down-even-though-I'm-also-reading-Harry Potter book. Author's debut novel, and I can't believe how well she can write. It's about the Iranian revolution in the early 80s, and a Jewish family...father gets arrested by the Revolutionary Guard in the first paragraph. The story holds your interest from then on. Gives insights into Iranian cultural, class conflicts, women's plight, what it's like to wear the scarf all of the time [like little elves crunching paper in your ear]....

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Aug 22, 2007 Wooky rated it 3 of 5 stars

i had high hopes after reading all the reviews, but was disappointed. it's a well-organized and thought-out novel in terms of structure and plot, but the characters didn't do it for me. i felt i was skimming along the surface of their feelings, and the writing also didn't particularly stand out. i'd still be interested to see what sofer does with her second work though, primarily because her background as a persian jewish american interests me.

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Oct 27, 2007 Alto2 rated it 3 of 5 stars

This debut-novel from Iranian-born Dalia Sofer has received great critical acclaim. I was hoping to like it as much as The Kite Runner or Reading Lolita In Tehran, but I didn't. The story-line and plot were compelling, but the author hardly explored the depths of her interesting characters. They felt more like caricatures.

Sofer has great promise as a writer. This novel reminds me a lot of Julia Glass's Three Junes: good, not great, and followed by an outstanding second novel. I look forward to...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, iran, 3-stars-and-a-half, middle-east

This book is both less and more than I expected. From a pure entertainment standpoint, I was disappointed; not so much because of the pacing (which is on the slow side, although the book is a quick read overall), but because I was hoping for a book that read like historical fiction, while this one read more like a contemporary family story--with the twist that the father is a political prisoner. Nothing objectively wrong with that, and if you like modern-day stories about families you'll probabl...more This book is both less and more than I expected. From a pure entertainment standpoint, I was disappointed; not so much because of the pacing (which is on the slow side, although the book is a quick read overall), but because I was hoping for a book that read like historical fiction, while this one read more like a contemporary family story--with the twist that the father is a political prisoner. Nothing objectively wrong with that, and if you like modern-day stories about families you'll probably like it better than I did, but it isn't my thing. At any rate, I was rewarded by a book that turned out to be much more thought-provoking than I expected.

The Septembers of Shiraz is about a Jewish Iranian family: in 1981, following the revolution overthrowing the Shah, the father, Isaac, is arrested on a bogus suspicion of being an Israeli spy. His wife, Farnaz, and 9-year-old daughter, Shirin, are left to deal without him in Tehran, while the college-age son, Parviz, is in New York. It quickly becomes clear that the revolutionaries' problem with Isaac isn't really that he's Jewish, it's that he's very rich. Which makes for a much more nuanced story: hating someone because of their religion is just stupid, while hating someone for living extravagantly next to others who have nothing, for willingly turning a blind eye to a regime that tortures and kills dissenters as long as it's good for business.... well, that's much more complicated.

So what we get is a story about the effects of wealth and privilege, and what happens when people who are accustomed to that lose it. But what this means is that we get a story about some often insufferable characters bemoaning the loss of their extravagant lifestyle and having great difficulty understanding why that lifestyle upset other people. (It's worth noting that the book was published in 2007, when the reading public was perhaps more sympathetic to the woes of oppressed rich people than we are today.)

And so despite all their travails brought on by the new regime (the dramatization of which occupies most of the book), it's quite difficult to like these people, the mother and son in particular. Even at the end of his character arc--and no, I won't tell where in the book that is!--Isaac self-righteously wonders, "Why the constant indignation at a man who dares to live well?" Farnaz "feels a deep pain" for the loss of "shameless extravagance" (no pain for people who actually have to deal with poverty or anything like that, though) and is annoyed at the housekeeper speaking more familiarly to her than she would have dared pre-revolution. Parviz is nothing but a spoiled brat: in New York and without money (why he suddenly has none at all is never explained), he lies around watching TV and thinking about how he wasn't born to do things like clean up after himself and take a part-time job. (Unfortunately, whining and flirting with his landlord's daughter is all Parviz ever does; his chapters are exceedingly dull.) Even Shirin is keenly aware that her current playmate is not someone she'd have befriended before the revolution shut down the private schools.

And it's not just the sense that they're better than other people; the Amins are so used to privilege that they don't seem to fully understand the political climate that they're living in. Even after Isaac has been arrested and detained for months, even after Farnaz has been unable to stop his former employees from looting the business, the characters are shocked and outraged to discover that their beach house has been confiscated; I was only astonished by their astonishment. But denial is a very human response.

Having difficult characters doesn't make a bad book, and Sofer's accomplishment is impressive in light of the fact that the novel is semi-autobiographical: she's a Jewish Iranian who fled to the U.S. at age 10. One might expect that she'd be wholeheartedly on the family's side, portraying them as innocent victims of an evil government, but while her sympathies are clearly with the family, the book is not that simple. While the focus is very closely on the Amins, a few characters who sympathize with the revolution do get to tell their stories; while the Amins try to portray their hiring employees and servants as an act of charity, one of Isaac's employees calls Farnaz out on this. (view spoiler)

Briefly, then: the plot is interesting, although a bit slow-paced and somewhat dragging in the middle (and Parviz's chapters are deadly boring throughout). The character development is decent, and the portrayal of the prison and its effects on the inmates is especially interesting. The setting is a bit sketchily drawn; I didn't get a strong sense of place or learn much about Iranian life or culture. The writing style is pretty good, especially given that this is a first novel. The dialogue is decent for the most part. The author does a good job of getting into the heads of all four members of the family; I found them all equally convincing, and given that both genders and a wide age range are represented, that's a feat in itself.

Ultimately, I didn't enjoy this book the way I'd hoped to, but its treatment of class issues was quite thought-provoking and had me thinking for days afterwards, and I don't want to penalize it too much for not being what I'd hoped. So, 3.5 stars.(less)

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Jan 06, 2008 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a really beautiful novel about a Jewish family in Iran; the father is imprisoned, accused of being a "Zionist spy" after the fall of the Shah, and his wife, teenaged son, and nine-year-old daughter must cope with his sudden absence and their fears about his fate. A couple of reviewers have used the word "delicate" to describe this novel. That seems apt to me, because of the gentleness and compassion offered to every single character (even, astonishingly, the sadistic and repulsive Revolu...more

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Dec 31, 2007 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This story is of a very wealthy Jewish family in post shah iran. It centers around Isaac, a gemologist, who turned a blind eye to all that went on under the shah's regime as his family and friends prospered. After the Shah's fall, and as society changes around him and his friends either leave or are imprisoned, he closes his eyes and waits. And is finally imprisoned.
The book is shallow to this point but really gets under the skin of the men in prison. It's engrossing and unforgettable and Sofer...more

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Jan 26, 2008 Corny rated it 3 of 5 stars

A bittersweet story of an Iranian Jewish family during the early eighties after the Shah was deposed.

Poignantly written, this semi autobiographical memoir-like novel comes up a little short for me.I have read enough of the Holocaust to know how life can change when we least expect it and with such force as to destroy relationships, break up families and yield tales of stark horror. This is one more such book, albeit in a different setting. It has the requisite grimness but at the end it seems m...more

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Nov 25, 2007 Betsy rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: adults with an interest in the Middle East, Iran

Another fictional memoir of life after the fall of the Shah in Iran, this is a well-written account told from multiple perspectives of the various family members of an imprisoned
Jewish businessman and how each of them finds the inner strength to cope with the effects of his imprisonment. I think it's, in some ways unfortunate that there has been such a slew of books about Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan this year as they tend to dilute one another. I'm thinking specifically of A Thousand Splendid Sun...more

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Jul 29, 2008 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the different voices in this book. The story is interesting and really puts in perspective what it is like to live under and ever shifting government as a child, businessman, and a mother in Iran. What if your values don't conform with those of the ruling elite? How do you come to terms with that? Or even survive? What can a child do?

My one complaint is that the book didn't go on long enough. There were a few issues that I wanted to hear more about. I especially wanted to hear...more

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Apr 29, 2008 Carol Hunter rated it 5 of 5 stars

I could not put this book down. (It cost me some sleep.) The Septembers of Shiraz takes place in Iran after the revolution. The Iranian-American author is a very gifted young writer who beautifully captures the characters of 4 Jewish family members after the father has been thrown in prison. He has done nothing except be wealthy and maginally connected to the Shah. It is a frightening time, as those in prison are tortured and killed with very little provocation. The short chapters switch between...more

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Sep 01, 2007 eloise rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: HY! haha... i seriously think Hy would like this book (among others)... ;)

really liked this book, although it's difficult to read at parts. beautiful perspective from the young girl. i like books that take different perspectives and this one switches between 4 family points of view as the father is thrown into prison during the 1979 iranian revolution. pretty scary stuff and for another twist on the whole situation, the family is jewish. it's a book about love, but not the typical romantic love between 2 people (although there is some of that and it's mostly a difficu...more

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Nov 25, 2011 Winnie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Read this for one of my book clubs and I’m glad I did. I had not heard about this book and it was not on any of my “lists.” This book generated a lot of discussion in our book club and presented each of us with much to think on.
Amazon’s description: 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...more

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Apr 10, 2013 Sarah King is currently reading it

The Septembers of Shiraz was written by Dalia Sofer and published in 2007. Sofer was born in Iran and raised in a Jewish family at the time of the Iranian Revolution. She moved to New York City at the age of 11 to escape Iran's revolutionary disarray. This novel was Sofer's first, and has received many awards and positive feedback.
Told through four different perspectives, The Septembers of Shiraz tells a story about a family and how their lives are affected by the regime change that brought the...more The Septembers of Shiraz was written by Dalia Sofer and published in 2007. Sofer was born in Iran and raised in a Jewish family at the time of the Iranian Revolution. She moved to New York City at the age of 11 to escape Iran's revolutionary disarray. This novel was Sofer's first, and has received many awards and positive feedback.
Told through four different perspectives, The Septembers of Shiraz tells a story about a family and how their lives are affected by the regime change that brought the Ayatollah Khomeini to power in 1979. The first perspective is Isaac, the father of the family. In the beginning of the story, he is arrested by the Revolutionary Guards who believe that he is a Zionist spy. His perspective details his experiences while in the jail, as well as after he is released. The second perspective is that of Isaac's wife, Farnaz. She struggles to take care of their daughter, Shirin, while also trying to find answers regarding Isaac's disappearance. Shirin, their youngest child, tells about her experiences with her friends as a result of the Revolution. Her being Jewish causes a great deal of tension among her friends, and she, like her mother, wants answers regarding her father's disappearance. The last perspective is that of Parviz, Isaac and Farnaz's son who moved to New York City to pursue his education. He forms a relationship with the Jewish family renting their basement to him, and finds that he faces many hardships while living in New York. This was something unfamiliar to him, given the privileged life he lived in Iran. Isaac, Farnaz and Shirin were faced with making the decision of whether or not to leave their belongings behind in Iran.
The Septembers of Shiraz was a great book. It was a very easy read and was very interesting. The change in perspective increased the interest because it made me want to continue reading to find out what was going to happen next. The only thing that I would say I did not really like was one small aspect of the plot that involved Shirin and her friend, Leila, because I did not understand how it related to the story as a whole. Without giving too much away, Shirin and Leila were not able to remain friends after Shirin's father was arrested and Shirin was not always the most honest with Leila.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Iranian history. The plot did not involve too much history, but rather insight into the perspective of someone living at the time of the Revolution in Iran. I read it for another class and found that I thoroughly enjoyed it not just for the connections to what we were learning in class, but also the plot overall.
The connection between Sofer's childhood and Shirin's childhood in Revolutionary Iran is very apparent. The entire story displays how Sofer's life would have been affected during the time of her childhood, as well as the people around her being affected by the revolution. It is also interesting to see the point of view of someone who may not have working directly with the Shah prior to the Revolution, but had benefited from his regime, and how even the slightest connection came to be detrimental to someone under the new regime. The Septembers of Shiraz was a very interesting and insightful book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in or with a bit of knowledge about Iran pre- and post Revolution.(less)

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Apr 09, 2013 Alex Leccese rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer is an interesting book about a particular family in Iran after the Revolution took place. It provides much information about life after the Revolution and how roles in Iranian Society were switched. It contains an informative story about a man who is arrested for not really committing any crimes whatsoever. Not only is this book about this man who was arrested, but it was also about his family's reaction to the arrest and the actions they take in response....more The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer is an interesting book about a particular family in Iran after the Revolution took place. It provides much information about life after the Revolution and how roles in Iranian Society were switched. It contains an informative story about a man who is arrested for not really committing any crimes whatsoever. Not only is this book about this man who was arrested, but it was also about his family's reaction to the arrest and the actions they take in response.

The story starts off with a regular day for Isaac Admin, working at his Jewelry shop. He is soon arrested by the Revolutionary Guard, who have taken control since the Revolution ended. Later on in the book, the real reason why Isaac was arrested is discovered: his family is Jewish. Just because his father was a faithfully practiced Judaism, Isaac was punished for it. Even though he repeatedly told the guards that he does not really practice his religion, they did not care at all. He was also very close to the shah before he was overthrown from power, which hurt his situation even more. In the prison, Isaac was brutally treated and even tortured. He felt like he was forced to practice Islam, since that was what was respected by the Revolutionary Guard. Worshipers of Islam were treated a lot more fairly than the people who were not Muslim. Back at Isaac's home, his family was very nervous for his safety and their own safety. They had to do many things to avoid having the same fate as Isaac, such as get rid of any evidence that suggests they were Jewish or rich before the Revolution.

This book was okay overall. It provided a lot of important information, but it would be extremely difficult to understand if you did not know much about the Iranian Revolution. It would seem like one would be completely lost if they read this book without doing any background research about the Iranian Revolution. I believe that the author should have put some background information in the book to inform the reader of what was going on during that time in Iran. If you do know something about the Iranian Revolution, this book just backs up what you learned and gives specific examples of what society was like right after the Revolution ended. The book did get a little boring toward the end, since it is very informative and seems to move slowly.

I would not recommend this book to anyone who does not really know anything about the Iranian Revolution or Iranian society right after the Revolution. If I had not read this book right after I learned about the Iranian Revolution in my comparative government class, I would be completely lost. If you did learn about this content, though, I would recommend it because it backs up the information nicely. I believe that this book provides information that helps to better understand what was going on during that time.

The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer, was definitely a memorable one. It provides some valuable examples of life directly after the Iranian Revolution and how the social classes were reversed because of this Revolution. The people who were rich before the Revolution became poor, while the poor before the Revolution became the wealthier ones in society. It also shows the religious intolerance in Iranian society after the Revolution ended.
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Mar 29, 2013 Regina Lindsey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Told in the third person, largely in the present tense, the intersecting narratives follow each member of the Amin family in Iran over the course of their most difficult year, from September 1981 to September 1982. A wealthy jeweler and Jew, Issac is targeted by the Revolutionary Guard and arrested as a Zionist spy. Through Issac we follow the torture of prisoners during this time. His wife, Faranz, frantically tries to obtain information about her husband and deals with the terror of the unknow...more Told in the third person, largely in the present tense, the intersecting narratives follow each member of the Amin family in Iran over the course of their most difficult year, from September 1981 to September 1982. A wealthy jeweler and Jew, Issac is targeted by the Revolutionary Guard and arrested as a Zionist spy. Through Issac we follow the torture of prisoners during this time. His wife, Faranz, frantically tries to obtain information about her husband and deals with the terror of the unknown, "Absence is death's cousin." The oldest son, Parviz, is in school in New York when suddenly his family's support money ceases. Nine-year old Shirin undertakes her own form of rebellion.

The lessons are simple and timely. First, be careful of supporting change simply for the sake of change, "There was a feeling that something was happening, and that we were the ones who were making it happen. We wanted to put an end to the monarchy. 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. But there wasn't much else to keep us together. In the end, we unleashed a monster." Second, countries with a strong foundation and a beautiful culture can fall. I loved the repetitive contrast to the post-revolutionary Iran to the nation under Cyrus and Darius. Third, the danger of class warfare and hypocricy are real and enormous. This was brilliantly done. It should be noted taht Sofer fled Iran and brings an interesting perspective to the story.

For me to character development is essential to a five star book, and I need to feel a connection. I thought the characters were well drawn, but I didn't have an emotional connection to them with the exception of Sharin. I was completely on edge worried about whether she would get caught in her rebellion and what would be her outcome. I aslo felt the internal conflict over the price paid for freedom was well done. This aspect cost it a star for me, but I think it is a wonderful piece of work and would recommend it highly. (less)

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Mar 21, 2013 Maria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Viel me een tikkeltje tegen dit boek. Het geeft wel een beeld van hoe moeilijk het geweest moet zijn in Iran, begin jaren tachtig, voor aanhangers van het oude regime van de sjah van Perzië. Het waren de jaren van de Iraanse Revolutie, van ayatollah Khomeini. Onschuldige mensen werden om allerlei vage redenen opgepakt, in de gevangenis gezet, gemarteld en geëxecuteerd. Niet voor niets zijn velen van hen gevlucht.
Alleen werden de hoofdpersonen in dit boek voor mij nooit echt mensen van vlees en...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Esmeralda rated it 3 of 5 stars

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...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a good way for an outsider to everything Iran-related to become acquainted with some of the realities people experienced in the years following the Revolution. Some small and sweet moments spring from Sofer's recollection of her own childhood in Iran, some painful and brutal scenes are taken from the real experiences of her father and others who were imprisoned and tortured. Despite the variety of material the tone of the writing is strikingly even, the prose is clean, gentle, and...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Maiga Milbourne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really beautiful book. I loved being immersed in Iran: scents, smells, places, sounds, culture, history... I REALLY need to read more about Iranian history and the Iranian Revolution.

Sofer takes a sort of relativist position in regards to the Revolution. She states that she set out to understand people's motivations and to not judge them. This proves to be really illuminating but also disquieting. The novel is from the perspective of wealthy Iranians who lost practically all during the Revoluti...more

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May 01, 2011 Tara rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed it but I didn't love it. It was a lazy read because I took a long time to finish it, which indicates it is a book that can put down. Thought provoking. Sometimes the story was slow. I liked that the main character evaluated himself outloud, both religously and morally, but he never seemed to make any determinations either way. The authors description of place and culture was excellant and I felt transported. I was fond of all the characters, but I was annoyed with the son's narrative....more

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Jul 22, 2010 ICPL Staff Picks added it

Shelves: fiction, kara, staff-picks-blog

Septembers of Shiraz caught my attention because it is a new addition to the Books on Disc collection. Dalia Sofer is an Iranian writer who emigrated to the United States in 1982 when she was 10. Sofer’s story is set in post-revolutionary Iran and alternates between the four members of the Amin family and their experiences after the arrest of Isaac, the family patriarch, who is accused of being a Zionist spy.

Isaac Amin is a poet-turned-gems dealer who built a comfortable life in Tehran after a h...more

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Jul 12, 2010 Baljit rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is about a middle class Iranian Jewish family man during the time of the Iranisan revolution who is arrested and interrogated. It describes how his world collapses, from the luxury of satin sheets and fine meals, to the squalor of imprisonment. I was taken with the desciptions of details of how his family copes; his son in America feeling adrift in hies thoughs, his daughter senses the dangers around her, and the desciption of how her friendships with schoolmates crumble due to fear and sus...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a lyrical poignant novel about a Jewish family in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution. Isaac, the father, is imprisoned by the Revolutionary Guards on the first page, and the story captures your attention instantly. The book then alternates perspectives between Isaac, his wife Farnaz and young daughter in Tehran, and his son attending college in New York City. Each struggles and copes differently with their fears about where Isaac is being held and when or if he will ever come home....more

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Oct 24, 2009 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: political, historical-fiction

This book tells you about the Iranian revolution through the eyes of one family. The father gets taken away to prison. The mother and young daughter are left at home to live without him, not knowing if he's alive or dead. And a son in his early twenties has been sent abroad and is living in Brooklyn and dealing with starting his own life, bereft of his family, dealing with loneliness. This book does a good job of giving you all of those perspectives. I of course liked the class analysis, or lack...more

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Jul 24, 2009 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it 5 of 5 stars

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. Hatre...more

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Jun 10, 2009 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Why do I bother to read about the Middle East? Nothing joyful ever seems to come from there. You can bet there won't be any chic lit from that region as England seems to have the market on that. But, just once, I would love to see a novel come from the Middle East that has an independent female journalist who works for a fashion magazine (Jezeera Style) where she pines daily for her boss but falls in love, in the end, for an unassuming delivery boy who cycles the streets of Tabriz.

But no, instea...more

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Apr 10, 2009 Noel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lit-and-fiction

This is some sort of a fictionalized memoir, a novel based on the author's life, and the lives of her family. It takes place in Iran in 1981-1982, right after the deposition of the Shah of Iran. Isaac is a Jew, born and raised in Iran, he is a jeweler and gemologist, he has accumulated a certain degree of wealth, has a beautiful home and a summer house, has traveled abroad and has rubbed elbows with the old regime. He knew his days were numbered in the new Tehran, and one morning he meets his fa...more This is some sort of a fictionalized memoir, a novel based on the author's life, and the lives of her family. It takes place in Iran in 1981-1982, right after the deposition of the Shah of Iran. Isaac is a Jew, born and raised in Iran, he is a jeweler and gemologist, he has accumulated a certain degree of wealth, has a beautiful home and a summer house, has traveled abroad and has rubbed elbows with the old regime. He knew his days were numbered in the new Tehran, and one morning he meets his fate as members of the Revolutionary Guard come to his office to take him into custody and interrogate him. The easy going days of the Shah are gone, together with the liberties and freedoms of the iranian citizens, and the terror filled, fundamentalist, righteous regime of the Ayatollah Homeini has started. Isaac is accused of being a Zionist spy, because of his many trips to Israel and is thrown in a cell with a very diverse population of anti-regime men. His son, Parvez, is studying in New York City, very much a loner, and more so after finding out the fate of his father. He goes through the motions in this huge city, but is barely existing, a bit of a whiny, needy character.

Back home, Isaac's wife and daughter try to cope with the uncertainty of not knowing where Isaac is, knowing that there are executions daily, and wondering which of their friends will betray them. Farnaz realizes that the cush life she once enjoyed will never come back, her young daughter, only 9 years old, quietly and secretly saves a few lives and grows up way too soon. Weeks turn into months, Isaac is interrogated and tortured, but survives. His captors and torturers have their stories, as do his housekeeper and her son who worked in Isaac's office. This is one of the strengths of the book. The author shows both sides of the coin, in as subjective a way as possible, given the fact that this is in part her own story.

The plight of the many refugees who have arrived on the shores of this country and so many others is a tale that needs to be told. So many times we get in a cab, hire a painter, or call to have our yards worked on - these are real people with real stories of persecution, greed, starting over, forgetting past lives -- and they deserve a listen.

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Jun 22, 2011 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Pretty tough subject matter but beautifully written. Some of my favorite quotes:

"Standing on the stoop, he tucks his gloveless hands in his pockets and looks out onto the dark street. How unyielding is that space between connection and interruption - one false move, one misspoken word, and you find yourself on the wrong side of things." (page 146)

"Walking back to the cell, Isaac wonders whether he could, in fact, repent. Since he is innocent of any crime they may be charging him with, he could r...more Pretty tough subject matter but beautifully written. Some of my favorite quotes:

"Standing on the stoop, he tucks his gloveless hands in his pockets and looks out onto the dark street. How unyielding is that space between connection and interruption - one false move, one misspoken word, and you find yourself on the wrong side of things." (page 146)

"Walking back to the cell, Isaac wonders whether he could, in fact, repent. Since he is innocent of any crime they may be charging him with, he could repent only for the act of living." (page 157)

"Rachel is unlike all of them. Her religiosity, which not long ago would have repelled him, now offers him something no one else has since his arrival: quietude. Maybe it's because he is incapable of such faith that he has deferred his unanswered prayers to her - being near her ignites in him, somehow, the hope that his father will survive." (page 170)

"Throughout the car trip the young Morteza, having discovered girls insisted on listening to Isaac's tapes of the Concerto de Aranjuez on Spanish guitar. "my head is gone with this guitar!" Habibeh (the mother) complained. "Can't we play something more upbeat?" Morteza shushed his mother. "You don't understand love," he proclaimed. "I don't understand love? How do you think you ended up here, aghapesar?" She looked out the car window. "I don't understand love? " she repeated in a low voice. "Love is what sealed my fate as a servant." (page 188)

"It would be lovely to see the world through her eyes, he thingks. to see canopies where he sees leaves, to see dancing limbs where he sees sad branches for the summer months." (page 190)

"What an illusion, she things, the idea of an ordered ordinary life." (page 207)

on page 208-209 there is a great list made my Isaac, the main character, of his normal day told through the senses - here's part of it:
"Six in the morning - the clink of milk bottles outside his door, Seven - the smell of steamed milk. Ceylon tea, and eggs. Eight - leather, paper and tobacco. Nine- chairs screeching, typewriters buzzing, chatter about the morning traffic...." (page 208-209.)

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Mar 21, 2011 Jill rated it 3 of 5 stars

At first I thought the book was fine, but it didn't strike me. But by the end I rather liked it. It's about the revolution in Iran in the early 80s. I liked how each chapter took turns being from the perspective of a family member. The story rotates between the husband, who is in prison, the wife and tweenage daughter at home, and the son at college in New York. They are such different perspectives that the author is able to explore many different themes. And while it is certainly one of those b...more

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Jul 22, 2010 Tess Holthe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Set in the Post Revolutionary Iran of 1981, Sofer gives us a gripping, elegant tale, of a Jewish gem trader Isaac Amin who is arrested one day and accused of being a Zionist spy. From four enlightening perspectives: Isaac’s, his daughter Shirin, his son Parviz and his wife, Farnaz a tale of hope, betrayal, possible friendship and the legacy of Post Revolutionary Iran, unfolds.

Although the story sounds bleak in synopsis, I found Sofer had magic in her touch. From the very first page, I could not...more

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About Dalia Sofer

The Septembers of Shiraz is Dalia Sofer's first novel. She was born in 1972 in Tehran, Iran and fled at the age of ten to the United States with her family. She received her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College in 2002 and has been a resident at Yaddo. She currently resides in New York City.

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“If something must be said, it will say itself. The writer's task is to listen.” — 6 people liked it

“Since when are you so 'faithful'? just a couple of years ago you would show up in your tight jeans and borrow our car to pick up one of your five girlfriends. You think that beard makes you a man of God?” — 5 people liked it

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