Aria
On a wintry night in 1953, Behrouz, a military truck driver, is walking home to the poorer, southern part of Tehran. He discovers and rescues an abandoned baby girl, taking her home and naming her Aria, “after all the world’s pains and all the world’s loves.” His acrimonious wife, Zara, is not thrilled and considers the girl’s blue eyes a bad omen. Zara makes the five-year-old Aria do heavy housework, beats her, and locks her out to sleep on the balcony. Behrouz is distraught, but through connections, Aria is adopted by the childless Fereshteh, an affluent lady residing in northern Tehran. Here she is looked after, goes to school, enjoys cinemas and ice cream parlors, and makes friends. At university, she falls in love and looks forward to a bright future. But in 1979, Aria and her friends are caught up in the fervor of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolution. Aria’s past and present worlds collide to change her and life in Iran.
Nazanine Hozar has penned a brilliant story about a young girl who has “a mother who left her, a mother who beat her, and a mother who loved her but couldn’t say so.” This historical novel seamlessly weaves into the plot the three decades of events leading up to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. While the country’s internal affairs feature prominently, some external world events, such as the American moon landing, are also included. The storyline incorporates descriptions of Iranian life, cuisine, customs like Ashura, and religions. The novel’s attempt to construct the narrative in a socially balanced way has mostly succeeded. Readers are presented with an impartial view of society in order to witness a more realistic view of Iran. The similarities between the Iranian Revolution and the Russian Revolution, and of this novel to Doctor Zhivago, are unavoidable. Highly recommended.
