Title: The Stationery Shop
Author: Marjan Kamali
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Roya is a teenager in 1953 Tehran. Her nation is on the verge of revolution, and she finds comfort within the walls of Mr. Fakhri’s stationery and bookstore. Mr. Fakhri introduces her to his other favorite customer—Bahman—whose desire to help change Tehran burns bright.

Soon Roya and Bahman are in love and engaged to be married. Their love for each other gives them hope even in the dark days surrounding them. When they are separated, Roya wants to find out what happened, but constant letters from Bahman comfort her. When he asks her to meet him in the square so they can be married, she is ecstatic. But violence erupts and Bahman never shows, and she never hears from him again.

Life must go on, but years later, a chance meeting gives her the opportunity ask the questions that have haunted her since her youth: why didn’t he show up in that square? Why didn’t he love her enough?

As a general rule, I prefer not to read books that I know will be sad. I knew this book did not have a happy ending, but it was so good I read it anyway. The Iranian culture comes to life on these pages, but even more so does Roya and Bahman’s love for each other. Such a wonderful read!

Marjan Kamali was born in Turkey and has lived all over the world. The Stationery Shop is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Gallery Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

This book was beautiful, plain and simple. I loved it so much I purposefully took longer to read it because I just didn't want to get to the end. This will definitely be one of my favorite reads of the year! The writing just totally drew me into a story about 2 teenagers falling in love in Iran, a country I knew very little about, but came to care about so much. I love a book that explores the history and choices of the characters and how it can alter their lives. This is a beautiful story you won't want to miss!

* I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

This extraordinary new book from Marjan Kamali is one of love, family, loyalty, regret, and redemption. Full of surprises, The Stationary Shop features a robust plot that spans 60 years and follows a couple, Roya and Bahman, separated by circumstances beyond their control. Set in Iran and the US, the book illustrates how outside influences can change the course of a lifetime. Part historical fiction, part romance, part coming-of-age, this novel has it all. For me, it only got better the more I read. If you enjoyed Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik or When a Bulbul Sings by Hawaa Ayoub, you will enjoy this one.

It’s not often that I consider a book “unputdownable” but that’s exactly how I would define The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali.

UN-PUT-DOWN-A-BLE

I’m a sucker for a tragic romance. I mean the rip your heart out and trample it kind of tragic romance. I love the books that leave you in tears when you turn the final page and I legit cried when I finished this book. I think the last time I felt that way about a book was when I finished reading Under the Jeweled Sky by Alison McQueen. If you enjoy emotional stories that tug at your heart strings and leave you a jumbled mess of tears (in the best possible way, of course) then The Stationery Shop absolutely must be on our reading list ASAP.

The Stationery Shop was on my 2019 summer reading list and I requested a digital galley through NetGalley so I could read it immediately. I’ve accumulated so many books over the years that I’ve stopped buying physical books unless I feel like it’s a book I must own and I know I’ll re-read. The Stationery Shop is definitely that kind of book which means I’ll be making a trip to the book store this weekend to buy a hard cover edition to display on my shelves.

The book though – guys, it’s SO GOOD! When you first meet Roya and Bahman they are young teenagers growing up in Iran. The country is full of political strife but they each find solace in the books and poetry found in the stationery shop run by Mr. Fakhri in Tehran. Mr. Fakhri subtly plays matchmaker and soon these two young lovers are swept up in a whirlwind of romance and love beyond anything they could have imagined. They get engaged and plan to meet at the square in town before running off to the Office of Marriage and Divorce to get married. Only, Bahman never shows up leaving 17-year old Roya alone to pick up the broken pieces of her heart and try to move forward with her life.

In the 60 years that follow that fateful day, both Roya and Bahman eventually move on before a chance encounter finally brings their stories full circle.

In the end, we readers are left with a story of overwhelming grief, the enduring power of love, and a warning lesson about meddling in the affairs of others.

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali is the first book I’ve read from my 2019 summer reading list and it was a huge hit! I finished it in only 3 days. The final night I stayed awake until 2:30am just because I couldn’t bear to put it down until I’d finished the entire story. This is absolutely a story I’ll remember.

A beautiful love story. Wonderful characters, and just when I thought I knew all of them, we learned more. None of the characters were perfect but they were all so human. Learning some of the political history of Iran was interesting and the descriptions of food were mouth watering. I need to find a Persian restaurant!

I love when I get a book in my hands that compels me from the first sentence. It doesn't happen often but when it does, I am moved throughout the book and there is a bit of sadness at finishing it. I loved The Stationery Shop. I think part of what drew me to it is my in laws grew up in Iran and in my mind since this book jumps to several different time periods, I imagine that these are lives that my husband's family could have lived. It is interesting to me to learn about other places and cultures, but especially ones that pertain to the family I moved into. I also just love a good romance, no matter how heartbreaking it is, and this one is definitely one for the books. I found myself devouring page after page to see where life would take Roya and if she would ever get any closure from her past. The ending wrapped it all up beautifully. I would love to see this book come to life in the movies in the same vein as Crazy Rich Asians, with an Iranian cast! I would be amazing and such a good movie! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoy contemporary fiction.

The Stationary Shop is about Roya, a teen living in 1950s Tehran who finds comfort, and love with a young man named Bahman, in a neighborhood bookstore/stationary shop. The story follows their courtship and lives for 60 years after they meet.

One of my issues with this book was that the narrative arc felt quite predictable and formulaic to me. It didn’t help that the synopsis revealed so much. I did, however, enjoy the themes of young love and the idea of the one who got away, which is relatable to so many, as well as the feeling (and reality) that, as you age, you still feel like the same young person inside.

Going into the book I was excited about the setting in Tehran during the political revolution of the 1950s, however I didn’t feel like I was really immersed there while reading. I enjoyed how progressive Roya’s father was, with an attitude that women could do anything men could, but overall I didn’t fully connect with or feel for the characters, despite their many struggles throughout the novel. The end of the story was the best part to me. And I did enjoy the structure of the book, which started at the end, went back in time to tell a story, and then came back to finish where it started.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the free electronic copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

I chose this book based on its setting of Iran. I've read previous books that take place there and have become fascinated by it's history and culture.

Roya is 17 and in her senior year if high school and a girl after my own heart. She loves pens and paper and other stationary supplies and books. So she visits the stationery store across from her school once a week where she feels safe. One day she meets a young boy in the store and they slowly develop a relationship. Bahman is a young man who is filled with passion for the first democratically elected official. They become engaged over the objections of Bahman's mother who had planned an arranged marriage with a girl the would increase their family's status. The relationship's conflicts mirrors the political conflicts.

The relationship ends and Roya's father works to get both his daughters admitted to a college in the United States. Here we get to see the cultural differences between Iran and The United States. It is here she meets her future husband and we see the choices she makes as she and her husband move forward. But she never forgets her first love. The book moves to where it began; at 77 she learns Bahman is in a nursing home not far from where she lives. She wants to know why he ended the relationship and meets with him to ask.

The story has much to recommend it. We get a glimpse of Iran at two big cultural shifts , in 1953 when the president was overthrown and again, briefly in 1976 when the Shah was overthrown by the Ahletollah. The description of the Persian cooking was mouth watering. We get a glimpse of the social structure and the strictures of language and interactions that reflect it.

I had mixed feelings about Roya's life with her husband. She seemed to be going through the motion of getting on with her life and I felt bad for her husband initially.

The downside for me was this periodic shift in perspective a few times in the novel. I woukd have preferred to learn these things along with Roya, rather than before her. I believe the revelations would have had more impact. Roya's journey has a lot to say about how the important people in out lives remain and travel with us.

ARC provided by publisher through Netgalley in exchange for honest review. 👩‍💻

This book was so bittersweet and I loved it so much. I couldn't put it down and read it within 24 hours.

The author lets you fully know the characters so you understand so much about them yet also knows when to leave the pivotal information back so it hits you harder when it's revealed. At first I thought it was going to jump back and forth each chapter but it didn't for the main part of the book. There was the perfect amount of reading within a certain time and the perfect amount of present/flashbacks. This is a book that makes an imprint on you.

Love is the only thing that kills you. Roya was a girl of 17 with her fate written in her forehead. She focused on her studies until she walked into the Stationary Shop. Her entire life changed when she met her match, and they both held a love of Rumi. They both feel head over heels in love. After their brief engagement they are torn apart by revenge, time, and space. Sixty years later she happens to stumble onto her old lover again.

Oh, I loved this so much. The rich descriptions of Tehran, the melon ice and the vast descriptions of the characters. I was hooked since page 1 and I even shed tears. It’s a wonderful tale of young love and how it ebbs and flows throughout life.

This was a very interesting read. Not being overly familiar with the history of Iran, it was compelling. This book spans 60 years or so going between Tehran and the US. Politics aside, it was a beautiful look at young love, heartbreak and romance. It also was very interesting to see the dynamics of different families and couples. Contrasting class, religion, ethnicity, political views, mental illness, loss of love, loss of country and loss of life all factored in to these very diverse romances. For me, the most emotional scene was not between the lovers but between the sisters-in-law. It was much more real and raw. Overall, a very good historical fiction book.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher and voluntarily chose to review it.

The synopsis of this book calls it as "a powerful story exploring loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate" and it couldn't be described any better.

The story was twisting and turning in ways I don't usually expect realistic historical fiction to be. I've been trying to expand my historical fiction reading to more places and time periods, but wanted expecting a new mini mystery to untangle. In fact, if you can avoid the full synopsis of the story and go in with no expectations, I think this would be even more prominent.

The way the book is set up is so perfect as a reader. I was instantly on the side of Roya since her perspective was how we as readers are introduced to Bahman. As a result, I had to fall in love with Bahman along with young Roya. It put me into a mindset of hesitancy towards the relationship that wouldn't have been there if the story had started in 1953. As it was, Bahman and the love he shared with Roya did win me over and I was emotionally invested in finding out what all went wrong. I spent most of the book aching (sometimes literally) to know the truth of what happened between Roya and Bahman, and how their choices as young adults had gotten them to the place they were at in 2013.

The stationery shop was a beautiful setting, both from a writing.atmospheric sense and from its ease to connect to as a person who loves books. I'm glad that so much of the plot revolved around the almost magic that occurs when one walks into a stationery shop. The sense pf magic and respite was a stark contrast to the growing political unrest and its effects on the characters. It also gave this emotionally difficult book a sense of comfort in a way that made me not want to put the book down.

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali is one part historical, one part romance and one part suspense all in one beautiful flowing saga. I know little of the Iranian history and can’t say that I had ever heard of the Prime Minister Mossadegh, but I do understand how the political unrest affected not just the country as a whole but individual lives too.

I had the same feel for the The Stationary Shop that I had many years ago when reading The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye. It is as if I was reading something bigger and wiser than the story of Roya and Bahman. This story of young love in the middle of revolution has love, loss, regrets, and how life still goes on. It is a tragic story of how life can change in an instant. Enlightening and unforgettable.

This is historical fiction done right! The Stationery Shop is the beautifully told story of Roya Kayhani, a 17-year old lover of Persian poetry and Bahman Aslan, an energetic young man already known as a political activist. The two meet in Mr. Fakhri’s stationery shop and begin to fall in love. Despite the objections of Bahman’s class-conscious mother, they become engaged. Their passionate romance is set against the political passions of 1953 Iran. Roya and Bahman decide to marry and arrange to meet, but a coup d’état against Mossadegh causes chaos in Tehran and Bahman does not show. Heartbroken, Roya decides to go to college in America where she meets and marries a young Boston law student and settles down. Sixty years later, she discovers that Bahman is a resident in a nursing home nearby. Roya decides to visit him and finally piece together the truth about their ill-fated story.

A deeply moving plot and wonderfully drawn characters make this novel a pleasure to read. The sights, sounds and aromas of 1953 Tehran permeate the first part of the story, while Roya’s heartache, resilience and determination to go on with her life fills the later parts. The historical events in Iran and the fate of some of those involved are a fascinating backdrop and very relevant to today’s politics. Fans of historical fiction, women’s fiction and romantic fiction will find this a great read. Moving and heart-achingly beautiful, please don’t miss this one.

Roya’s favorite place in all of Tehran was The Stationery Shop, which was just as much a bookstore. It was a place to get away from the political groups at school—communist, monarchist, democratic. “It was the perfect retreat of quiet and learning.” Then one day, while browsing with a book of poetry in her hand, a mysterious boy walks into the shop who wants to change the world, Bahman Aslan.
A seventeen year old girl meets teen boy, and they fall in love over poetry and politics. But on the day they are to leave together, he never appears at the square, and she is left to wonder why. Finally, as an old woman, she meets with the man she thought she would marry to find the answer.
Tragic, sorrowful, political, and full of yearning, this story about lovers who missed their chance is also about the pain and suffering of Persia, about the hopes of a free, democratic Iran, and about two seventeen-year olds who hoped for more from life. Perfect for those who love a suspenseful tragedy.

Look at love
How it tangles
With the one fallen in love
Look at spirit
How if fuses with earth
Giving it new life
Five lyrical, heart-wrenching/ripping/breaking into pieces, soul shaking, perception changing, revolutionary, magical, eternal love stars!
The list of the things you need urgently after you finish this book are:
- Rolls of toilet papers, napkins, paper towels, anything helping you out to clean the nasty evidence of your ugly cries!
-Fresh air! So you can howl at the moon like a wolf for getting rid of bottled up emotions, anger, frustration.
-Punch bags and gloves! Some of the characters on this book will piss you off so much as you remember their name (She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!!!), use the punch bags instead of your lovely house walls or glasses!
- A good comedy movie or TV series to binge watch! Because you're gotta remember, there are still funny things in life!
-Eat pasta, chocolate to rise up your blue mood!
- Stay away from Zanax or any other prescribed pills, hard liquors which could deepen your depression. Try smoothies, ice cream or softer drinks!
- Good make up products to hide your puffy red eyes!
This story was started in Tehran, a stationary shop, it's a place where its owner Mr. Fakhri, helps the young people for their political awakening and fight for reformist changing of their country but it is also the safe place of book lovers who want to devour the words and broaden their intellectual minds.
Young Roya, book-worm, 17, comes to the stationary shop to find herself, her own words and meets Bahman Aslan ( Aslan means lion, Bahram is mostly brave, passionate character just like his last name). As soon as they met, they understood that their life would never be the same.
They fell in love when they were 17. They got engaged and against Bahman's mother's rejection who were suffering from psychological problems, they planned to get marry at the summer as the political turbulence commotion, danger of upcoming coup rising like Damocles' sword over their heads!
But one day, Bahman and his family disappear and Roya can only communicate with him by the letters hidden inside the books with the help of Mr. Fakhri.
Finally young lovers decide to get marry and meet at the square to go to the mayor's office with their documents. Roya waits for Bahman, witnesses Mr. Fakhri`s dying because of a political commotion at the square. And then she gets a letter from Bahman that says he wants to break up with her.
Devastated Roya, decides to go to the US for college education and fresh start for her broken heart with her sister.
So this is 60 year old story of two lovers who have broken up , tried to gather their pieces of their broken hearts, gone to their separate ways to move on their lives and finally they got back together after 60 years to have their closure !But you know that lovers don't finally meet somewhere.. They're in each other all along! As like Bahman ans Roya!
I cried so much! I hurt so much! I cursed so much! This is a poignant, emotional, life changing and heavy story to absorb, digest properly about passion, ideals, dreams, sisterhood, traumas, betrayal, abortion, loss, devotion, trust, friendship, psychological issues !
I still feel lumps on my throat! Especially final pages are so hard to continue! But it's totally worth it! Because this is an incredible journey about faith, love, beautiful Rumi poems!
I enjoyed every second of it.
I'm so lucky that I received this amazing complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange of my honest review! I think it's safe to say I loved this book so much and again thanks to NetGalley to help me meet this gifted writer!

Lately, books set in the Middle East have become my favorite and this was such a great addition to that. I have been a stationary person all my life and this was just perfect to scratch that itch.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me a chance to read and review, "The Stationery Shop"
by Marjan Kamali. I finished this book last night. Let me tell you, this book is breathtakingly beautiful. It's the best book I have read this year so far (probably will be my favorite for years to come) & I believe it will be the best book of the year for a lot of other people as well. I read somewhere comparing this book to "The Notebook". I do see some small similarities to that. It felt so real with the scenery and the people. I thought about Roya and Bahman even when I wasn't reading. The story centers around Roya, a young woman living in Tehran in 1953. While visiting her favorite stationary shop down the street, she meets a boy named Bahman and their encounters soon turn to love. Before they are set to be married, Bahman asks Roya to meet him at the town square. Even though Roya waits, Bahman never shows up. Roya waits weeks after but she has not heard anything from Bahman. Roya has no choice but to move on. More than sixty years later, Roya finally gets to ask him why he never showed up and how he was able to forget her. I truly can't say enough good things about this book. It took my breath away.

I have received an ARC copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.
What a delightful read, The narrative of the book takes us to 1953 Iran, where a dreamy, idealistic teenager Raya finds her happy place in a quiet stationary shop ran by Mr. Fakhri. and where she meets her love Bahman. Due to unfortunate violent events that erupt in her town Bahman and Raya lose contact on the eve of their marriage to only meet again after sixty year. Then finally Raya tries to get answers to the questions she had been carrying through her life. This book will not leave you untouched. It has it all, political conflict, teenage feelings, great love and tiny of suspense.

Is your first love the best love, the one that will hold your heart and imagination even as you live a different life than you ever imagined, in a different country, a different world than the one you ever dreamed possible? If you are to believe the premise and the promise of the story of The Stationery Shop, it is. When you are young, your identity is so raw, so open, so malleable that the forces of family, politics, sexual attraction, and culture are exceptionally powerful. This book did not bring that magic alive for me, did not convince me that the love a young woman had for a young man is the best, the soul-defining, and most important love of her life. There is a revolution, distant rumbling of politics and intervention and guns, and issues of who you trust and when and how and why. By the middle of the book, I could not believe I was still reading it -- but there is something wonderful, powerful, evocative in Kamali's writing, moments that do take your breath away such as the grief of a young mother who loses a child. My favorite characters were not the protagonists, but rather the man who owned the stationery shop. I wish I liked it more and am glad that I am done reading it.