Novel set in Iran (“the children of the revolution”)
- Book: Children of the Jacaranda Tree
- Location: Tehran
- Author: Sahar Delijani
More a collection of essays, this novel introduces the reader to the harsh reality of Iran, post revolution, from 1983 onwards. A large number of characters populate the book, across all ages, and at the beginning there is a list of players detailing who is related to whom.
Evin Prison in Tehran held the political prisoners who had started to make their voices heard in int he country, and follows the lives of various characters up to 2011. From the opening chapter of the book the harsh reality of being confined to prison is scorched on the page. Azar is in the throes of labour, separated from her husband Ismael, and the tortuous birth and conditions are unspeakable. She is supported by one of the political ‘Sisters’ who accompanies her on her journey through labour, and takes every opportunity to humiliate and punish.
The corridors of the prison echo with the slap of sandals and the swish of the chador and those simple noises can instill fear into the assembled prisoners. A tour of the prison takes us to the latrines, to the interrogation rooms and to Ismael, who is making a bracelet out of collected date stones for his newborn daughter. Beyond the prison walls, life goes on, lovers meet, the curfew descends. Some flee to foreign countries for safety and look back on a time of hardship and cruelty. The ripple effect of past atrocities extends into the lives of families right into the 21st Century.
The author states in the book that she wanted to collect the experiences of her own family and make them concrete in written form, but as fiction. It is written from the heart and is an eye opening look at a country in turmoil, where the value of human life had sunk low. In its own way it is a very poignant memoir and a salutary account of human cruelty.
Where it falls down a little is that it feels like separate stories tenuously brought together, and thus it can, at times, lack cohesion. And as the reader opens the book the list of characters, although helpful, feels daunting at the outset and it is all too easy to get caught up in getting the relationships straight. They form the skeleton of the book that supports the flesh of the story.
This is a good and passionate introductory read for anyone who is unfamiliar with this period of Iranian history.
This review – plus the author talks to TF about the inspiration for her novel – over on our blog
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