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As a child living in his family's apple orchard, Ahmad Torkash-Vand treasures his great-great-great-great grandfather's every mesmerizing world. On the day of his father's death, Ahmad listens closely as the seemingly immortal elder tells him the tale of a centuries-old family curse . . . and the boy's own fated role in the story.
Ahmad grows up to suspect that something unseen must be interfering with his family, as he struggles to hold them together through decades of famine, loss, and political turmoil in Iran. As the world transforms around him, each turn of Ahmad's life is a surprise: from street brawler to father of two impossibly gifted daughters; from radical poet to politician with a target on his back. These lives, and the many unforgettable stories alongside his, converge and catch fire at the center of the Revolution.
A sweeping, multi-generational epic, this stunning debut heralds the arrival of a unique new literary voice. Exploring the brutality of history while conjuring the astonishment of magical realism, The Immortals of Tehran is a story of the incantatory power of words and the revolutionary sparks of love, family, and poetry—set against the indifferent, relentless march of time.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 7, 2020 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593293911
- File size: 472355 KB
- Duration: 16:24:04
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 24, 2020
Araghi’s impactful debut follows the rise of a poet with magical powers that emerge during the Iranian revolution. At 10 years old, Ahmad Torkash-Vand lives in the village of Tajrish. His father, returned from the front lines of WWII after serving with a group of British-led volunteers, is overcome with despair over the country’s future and fatally shoots himself, with help from his unwitting son. After his father’s suicide, Ahmad becomes mute and turns to poetry. As tension in Iran mounts and the revolution unfolds, Ahmad’s grandfather Khan, still living at an advanced age, cites a myth told decades earlier by Khan’s grandfather about a kingdom of cats as a prophesy of the country’s turmoil, and the omniscient narrator describes cats working behind the scenes to incite turmoil and even acting as snipers firing on government troops. Meanwhile, Ahmad, now in his 40s and estranged from his wife, writes a love poem so powerful that it burns through anything that it is written upon and becomes a tool for the revolutionaries. While certain cultural and historical references may be lost on readers not familiar with Persian history and mythology, the narrative of Ahmad’s journey is engrossing. Araghi’s skillful combination of revolutionary politics and magical realism will please fans of Alejo Carpentier. Agent: Alison Lewis, Zoë Pagnamenta Agency.
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