8 /10 1 Votes
Language English | 4/5 Goodreads Originally published 2009 Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Tallgrass, The Blood of Flowers, The Septembers of Shiraz, Born Under a Million Shadows, Censoring an Iranian Love Story | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rooftops of Tehran, a novel written by Mahbod Seraji, was published by New American Library, an imprint of the Penguin Group, in May 2009.
Contents
Reception
Immediately upon its publication Rooftops won critical acclaim as an Indie Next Notable and was selected in the Outstanding Debut Category by the American Booksellers Association. Rooftops of Tehran was the One Book Program selection at Villanova University, Broward College's wRites of Spring 2010 final pick, and Earlham College's First Year Experience selection. The book was also voted as one of the top 25 bookclub favorites of 2009, and one of San Francisco Chronicle's top 50 notable books of the Bay Area. Rooftops is being translated into 15 languages.
Story
In a middle-class neighborhood of Iran’s sprawling capital city, 17-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend Ahmed, dreaming about future and wrestling with a crushing secret: his love for his beautiful neighbor, Zari, who has been betrothed since birth to Pasha's friend and mentor, Doctor, a university student and political activist on the SAVAK hunt list. Despite Pasha’s guilt the long, hot summer days transform the couple's tentative relationship into a rich emotional bond. But the bliss of their perfect, stolen summer is abruptly shattered in a single night when Pasha unwittingly guides the Shah’s secret police to Doctor's hiding place. The violent consequences awaken Pasha and his friends to the reality of life under the rule of a powerful despot, leading Zari to make a shocking choice from which Pasha may never recover.