The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji is a fantastic read—an absorbing, beautifully written novel that follows the lives of one Iranian family through the eyes of its women. Tracing their exile from Iran after the fall of the Shah and their attempts to rebuild their lives in the United States, it explores themes of money, power, identity, and belonging with remarkable depth.

What makes this novel particularly compelling is the way it examines not just the struggle of displacement but also the personal choices—both those made freely and those forced by circumstance—that shape the characters’ lives. Mahloudji’s writing is both gripping and elegant, drawing the reader into each woman’s world with remarkable intimacy. The shifting perspectives weave together to form a complex, layered narrative, offering insight not just into exile but also into those who remain behind, the weight of memory, and the emotional and psychological landscapes of those who live through seismic change. It’s a novel that lingers, both for its exquisite storytelling and its deeply human exploration of what it means to belong.

It took me a while to get into this novel , it’s a complex family tale following Elizabeth,her two daughters Shirin and Seema and her granddaughters Bita and Niaz. Elizabeth and Niaz live in Iran and the rest live in Los Angeles . Shirin commits a crime and Bita who is a law student tries to defend her . We have a story about different cultures and what it means for a woman to live in Iran and America. These women are strong willed and certainly have different personalities. They are wealthy and privileged because of money. We hear from all the women’s voices , so get a sense of how the family is sticking together but have many problems. It’s a story of motherhood , race , identity, wealth, culture and grief. I didn’t think it was an easy read ,maybe because of my ignorance of the Persian cultures and language but it was interesting in parts .

This book about family, identity and culture was an enjoyable read, I liked the different perspectives and the complex characters portrayed, although I did find the back and forth of the characters a little confusing. It’s an interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I love a good multi-generation family saga, and I was hoping The Persians might satisfy my cravings for it but alas.

The Persians follow 3 different generations . Each of these generations are uprooted differently, from Elizabeth who have spent her whole life in Tehran and stayed during the revolution, Shirin and Seema her daughters that had left for America during it, and her granddaughters Niaz who had stayed with her in Tehran and Bita who had spent most of her life in the US. When an annual trip to Aspen goes awry, a family's deep secret threatens itself to come out.

The synopsis of this book sounds really interesting, however I don't really think the story is as interesting as it made it seem? The plot that was offered in the synopsis was hardly a large part of this book and to me, I spent most of the time just witnessing how selfish, shallow and stubborn some of these characters are and witnessing them make bad decisions. I would've been fine with this if there was a good purpose behind it but I found none.

I do think it was interesting to see how the revolution had impacted each of them in a different way and the ending sort of made up for the book but it was definitely not what I had expected.

When I started reading I didn’t think I would be able to finish. A hugely unlikeable character who is rich and doing drugs. Nope, not my vibe. How wrong was I. There of course was still a hugely unlikeable character, but the multiple POVs, and the intergenerational story telling across Iran and the US made this book a great read. A fantastic debut.

WOW! What a book, what a voice - I absolutely inhaled this. The writing was sharp, sassy & spiky, and I loved cycling through the different generations of the Valiat family. From the first chapter I knew I was in the hands of a really wonderful storyteller.

When family history collides with the powers that be
—
Complex and facile, international and intimate, layered and direct: this is a book that resists easy distillation into one genre or form or style. Mahloudji writes from a place of intimate knowledge but also with plenty of flights of fancy. On the surface, this is a novel of an Iranian family seen from five points of view: the matriarch In Tehran accompanied by one of her granddaughters, a second voice, abandoned when the rest of the family fled to the States; the matriarch’s two daughters, the older more responsible and recently passed away, the younger more louche; and the last granddaughter, a lawyer-to-be in mourning for her supportive mother.

There are layers upon layers for each of these women, the things they’ve seen and done, the things they believe and say, the things about which they’re mistaken and misled. America was a dream of sanctuary at one time, but the reality makes the past even more of one, and the pull of family and the past is both a division and a unification. The book enthralled in its careful parcelling out of family history and myth, no one woman ever holding the whole of the family archive in their memories, in their stories, and in themselves. Recent history entwines with an entertaining family to give the reader a new vision of America and Iran and the memory of Persia.

Four and a half stars.

If I should describe this novel with a word would surely be “naive”. Naive is the story, naives are the main characters (come could say otherwise, but keep reading his review to understand why), naive is the writing style. Sanam Mahloudji’s “The Persians” perfectly finds its place among women’s fictions, a genre that seems to have conquered the literary world today (fortunately), so it doesn’t add anything new and I didn’t find any particular innovation. It’s a good novel, but it didn’t impresse me (and sometimes I even hated it).
Mahloudji’s debut follows he women of the Valiant Family, a sort of Iranian Kardashian family whose ancestor was a Great War hero and democracy champion for some, and a murderer for other. These women flawed, unlikeable, tough and complex, as what they lived, as their love stories. Characters one can easily hate, and not because of their tempers, but because of their naiveness, the one of the rich, the lack of empathy. Everyone of them hurt other people because they were hurt themselves, but thus doesn’t justify their stupid head blows, their stubbornness and superficiality. Bored and suffering rich women, too much prudent, superficial and mainly interested in how they appear, physically and morally, and thus destroying themselves and people around them. Shirking and her head blows; Elizabeth and her cowardice; Niaz and Bita, for their naiveness; Seema, poor Seema, her lack of hunger.
In the book is said Valiant family’s issues are provoked by money; in fact, Bita gave her whole patrimony away to charity (leaving only $5000 in her bank account, too little for living in New York City). As a working class young woman, I can say Bita’s choice was one of the most naive I’ve ever read: if Valiant women couldn’t fulfil their dreams (which one?), the reasons are a patriarchal system which kept women at home and lack of hunger. Bita is not hungry. Anyway, if you have ambitions and you’re hungry but you haven’t enough economic resource, it’s pretty difficult to succeed (especially in this economy!). Naive is even the way Bita and Niaz tried to help villages women: money transfer is not enough to lift their economic condition, but a systemic and programmatic vision is needed, but this topic is too complex to explain it here.
What I appreciated most was the ending, a sort of redemption and reconciliation which, I want to be honest, made me cry and I think is one of the best part of the novel. I also appreciated a lot, and I believe it’s really well done, the portrait of a migrant family that believe its status must be recognised even in a foreign country, especially in America, where family ancestry has little importance (indeed, Weber explained capitalism works very well in Anglo-Saxon countries because Calvinist value system pervades in them, i.e. that belief according to which people are predestined or not to salvation, and economic success is a proof of this predestination).
Writing style is properly defined and technically correct, as the novel structure, which I don’t find quite remarkable, I prefer other styles.
Generally, I think Sanam Mahloudji’s debut is a good start and it has many qualities. I’m sure her next works will be very good. And yet there parts of this novel I didn’t quite appreciate and it didn’t particularly imprese me. Even though I belong to the target this book is addressed to, I believe I’m just not the right reader for this one.

I saw The Persians recommended in Red Magazine as a debut novel of the year, and so requested an advance review copy from Net Galley and was granted it. Here's the blurb:

"A riotously funny and moving debut novel following five women from three generations of a once illustrious Iranian family as their lives are turned upside down
Meet the women of the Valiat family. In Iran, they were somebodies. In America, they're nobodies.
First there is Elizabeth, the regal matriarch with the famously large nose, who remained in Tehran despite the revolution. She is kept company by Niaz, her young, Islamic-law-breaking granddaughter. In America, Elizabeth’s two daughters have built new lives for themselves. There’s Shirin, a flamboyantly high-flying event planner in Houston, who considers herself the family's future; and Seema, a dreamy idealist turned bored housewife languishing in Los Angeles. And then there's the other granddaughter, Bita, a disillusioned law student in New York trying to find deeper meaning by giving away her worldly belongings.
When an annual vacation in Aspen goes wildly awry and Shirin ends up being bailed out of jail by Bita, the family's brittle upper class veneer is cracked wide open and gossip about them spreads like wildfire. Soon, Shirin must embark upon a grand quest to restore the family name to its former glory. But what does that mean in a country where the Valiats never mattered to anyone? And, will reputation be enough to make them a family again?
Spanning from 1940s Iran into a splintered 2000s The Persians is an irresistible portrait of a unique family in crisis that explores timeless questions of love, money, art and fulfilment. Here is their past, their present and a possible new future for them all."

The book is a sweeping saga telling the story of the many generations of Valiat family from their origins in Iran to modern day America. Having had a friend whose parents left Iran around the time of the revolution, I thought it would be interesting to understand more about her culture.

Some of the characters are more likeable than others - but the back stories of all, and how they intertwine are interesting.

There didn't feel to be a strong 'storyline' - it was more a family drama in very different settings of time and geography.

Whilst I enjoyed it - and did find it educational at times - I'm not sure it's going to end up on my personal best books of 2025. But thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for my ARC. It was released last month - so you can order it now if you like the sound of it.

Sanam Mahloudji’s The Persians offers a nuanced examination of a once illustrious Iranian family attempting to maintain their identity across multiple generations and continents. The novel focuses on the Valiat women, whose prestige and influence in mid-century Iran stand in stark contrast to their diminished status in the United States. This disparity gives the story a compelling air of faded grandeur, which plays out against a backdrop of shifting cultural norms and evolving personal ambitions.

The family’s matriarch, Elizabeth, remains in Tehran, having chosen to stay despite the revolution that forever altered Iran’s political and social landscape. Her presence in the country offers insight into how those who did not leave must adapt or covertly push boundaries under new laws and watchful authorities. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s daughters, Shirin and Seema, establish separate paths in America, where the Valiat name holds no inherent value. Shirin pursues a career in event planning, unabashedly seeking success on her own terms, while Seema navigates the role of a bored housewife in Los Angeles, often torn between her idealistic youth and the confines of a suburban life that feels stifling.

The younger generation, Niaz in Tehran and Bita in New York, represent two vastly different experiences of womanhood. Niaz tests the limits of social and religious constraints at home, while Bita grapples with a desire to break free from her family’s wealth by giving away much of what she owns. Though these women occupy contrasting environments, both search for meaning on the fringes of expectation, highlighting the strain that displacement—and the lingering myth of Valiat prestige—can place on family members in divergent cultures.

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is the way it weaves together individual perspectives without relying on overt comedy or excessive sentimentality. Instead, each chapter presents a distinct voice shaped by political upheaval, cultural transition, and personal aspiration. Seema’s chapters stand out, offering a thoughtful portrayal of a woman caught between a past filled with possibility and a present that feels quietly constraining. Her longing for something beyond her immediate surroundings resonates through the narrative, illustrating the emotional toll of displacement and compromise.

Mahloudji deftly shows how prestige can evaporate once removed from its original setting, leaving these women to question whether their family name is enough to preserve a sense of self. The novel’s exploration of faded grandeur feels authentic, with carefully rendered details about both Tehran and American suburbia underscoring the Valiats’ internal and external conflicts. While their once-powerful position in Iran allowed for a glamorous lifestyle, the difficulties of adapting to new environments place each character on an often-isolating path of self-discovery.

For readers who enjoy cross-generational family dramas that examine cultural dislocation, privilege, and the complexities of sustaining a legacy, The Persians offers a thoughtful and multi-layered story. Mahloudji presents a tapestry of personal struggles and triumphs, ultimately revealing how the drive for belonging spans nations and decades—yet remains profoundly intimate to each member of the Valiat family.

A truly unique novel, with fascinating insight into another culture and world. I loved that it resembled nothing else that I've read, and even beyond the setting and the character, the plot was truly novel.

The plot follows three generations of Iranian women and the political landscape they live in as some choose to seek a safer future. The women are deeply flawed in different ways, damaged by their upbringing in different ways. The book starts with outrageous behaviour from Shirin, who for me was the focal point of the story. A big, divisive, personality who has encountered too much privilege to be likeable (I always struggle with unlikeable main characters). Shirin has gone too far, and now finds herself in trouble with the law. Her niece is trying her best to save her.

Overall, I found the plot and characters fascinating and I enjoyed reading about another culture but I did find it too long.

I enjoyed parts of The Persians, there's some lovely writing and interesting insights - such as the young love of Elizabeth, the grandmother and her chauffeur's son - and the reaction of both families. However, other parts were disappointing - Seema's frustrated housewife lament felt too familiar and predictable and Niaz's dissident parties were described in global terms rather than as an involving story.

There were also some big family rifts and secrets that were set up to drive the narrative but then were resolved too quickly and easily. It would also have benefited from being around 20% shorter. I initially found it engaging but ended up resenting it.

It feels first novel-y in the sense that Mahloudji has so much to say and wants to cram it all in. I did like the characterisation and the relationships, though, so am interested to see what she does next.
*
Copy from NetGalley

Following 3 generations of the Valiat women, this book is set between the US and Iran and explores their history and personal conflicts. It's told with a level of humour that made it stand out from other family sagas I've read recently but it's not short of tender and moving moments. I really enjoyed reading about the stark contrasts in culture, opportunity and freedom experienced by these women and found the parts set in Iran especially interesting. I'm also a sucker for a complex family dynamic so it was an all round winner for me.

The Persians is a phenomenal debut novel following multiple generations of Iranian women and their lives throughout decades and revolutions. I really enjoyed how complex the characters and their personal stories. This book is perfect for fans of 'Like Mother Like Mother' and 'Good Girl.'

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Valiat Family were one of the most powerful and influential families in Iran, due to their legendary Ancestor "The Great Warrior" Babak Ali Khan Valiat.

However in 1979, Elizabeth the matriarch has chosen to stay in Iran while her two daughters, Seema and Shirin brave the new world of America. Where they have to come to terms that they are essentially nobodies in this new land.

Ironically, Shirin's daughter Niaz decides to stay with her grandmother, while Seema's daughter Bita is brought up in America. Thus the two granddaughters live exceedingly different lives. The one who is living under a more constrained and anti-feminine Iran seeks to express herself, especially sexually putting herself and grandmother in danger. Whilst the other granddaughter is so used to a life of luxury, she is ashamed of her family money and seeks to give away her wealth.

When an incident occurs in Aspen, where Shirin is jailed, her niece Bita must help her aunty in her legal battles. This triggers a motion of events that lead, the women to discover family secrets and pasts that have long been kept hidden.

The narrative follows all five women, across three generations, spanning 80 years. While reading through each character chapter, it is hard to sometimes gage where we are and you can lose track. The pace is also on the slow side and it did take over half the book before I started engaging properly.

At its core, this story is about women, and the complexity of female relationships. It's also about wealth and pomp, it's about revolution, it's about losing your identity, or even hiding behind it. It's about expressing yourself and the freedom to do that.

The characters are not always likeable and you end up questioning them at points, but shows the ambiguity of humanity. There is also a lot of emphasis on money which didn't always feel right in the story. The entitlement of the women was interesting to see, as they can be seen as selfish. So it was interesting to see that view of a woman.

While there is some Iranian culture included, I feel it could have been fleshed out even more, with more cultural references, but most of those seemed money related. While the premise was interesting, the execution could have been polished more.

Overall, an interesting read. Recommend to readers who like morally ambiguous protagonists and a predominantly female perspectives.

Thank you to netgalley , 4th estate and wmcollinsbooks for granting me access this arc.

Favourite quote:
“Young Americans smoked marijuana without fear of death, snuck out bedroom windows, pierced tongues, refused meat, slept with their teachers. Then they entered the world renown of Harvard University and acted like oversexed compassless children. They knew so little. Still, entire departments of the world - purveyors of film, music, politics, money - were dedicated to wooing just them, privileged American teens. And the rest of the world followed like trained idiots. It made me angry that people who needed nothing were given more. But that is the world".

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I just finished reading "The Persians," and it's absolutely enthralling. This exceptional debut masterfully combines biting wit and absurd scenarios with profound depth and history, exploring the lives of three generations of Iranian women. Set between 1940s Iran during the Revolution and the fractured 2000s, the story follows the Valiat women as they navigate personal and political challenges, balancing heartbreak and humor throughout.

The characters are unforgettable. At the heart of it all is Elizabeth, the formidable matriarch with her famous nose and an unshakable presence. Then there’s her daughters—Shirin, the dazzling Houston socialite, and Seema, the idealist-turned-housewife in LA—each wrestling with the weight of their past and the choices they’ve made. And of course, the granddaughters, Niaz and Bita, who find themselves torn between tradition and their own uncertain futures.

What struck me most is how the novel centers firmly around these women and their stories, challenging Western stereotypes from the very first page. It wears Iranian stereotypes lightly and with humor, offering a refreshing and authentic perspective. Each character’s journey reveals the tension between the weight of the past and the promise of the future, exploring what it means to carry an entire culture within oneself.

One of my favorite moments? The family’s Aspen vacation disaster—equal parts hilarious and painfully revealing. Shirin’s desperate attempt to salvage their name is both tragic and absurd, making you question what truly defines legacy and belonging.

"The Persians" is more than a family saga; it's an irresistible portrait of a unique family in crisis. It explores timeless questions of love, money, art, and fulfillment. The narrative spans from the 1940s into the splintered 2000s, painting a vivid picture of their past, present, and potential future.

The author's ability to blend humor with heartbreak is masterful. I found myself laughing out loud at the absurdities and quirks of the characters, then moments later reflecting deeply on their struggles and triumphs. The themes of identity, heritage, and the immigrant experience are woven throughout the story, resonating on a universal level.

If you love multi-generational sagas with complex, fierce women at the center, this book is a must-read. The Persians isn’t just a family drama—it’s a deeply moving reflection on heritage, survival, and the impossible task of holding onto the past while reaching for the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

#ThePersians #Netgalley

On the face of it, The Persians is filled with vacuous, materialistic women, but as I read further, these women had been either torn from their homes in order to escape the new religious government in Iran, or were having to live there, having remained. Trauma has a large part to play in the make up of these women.

Both the women in Iran and those in the US are non-conformists, rule breakers - and some more than others. There’s the obvious Shirin, who’s arrested on prostitution charges at the beginning of the book, and Bita, who decides to break away from her family history and wealth, and make her own way. Then there’s the matriarch, Elizabeth, who remains in Iran and uses her age and family name to get away with not following the rules of Islamic law (to some degree), and her granddaughter Niaz, who is arrested and put in a Tehran jail.

A lot of secrets are revealed (there are some big secrets to be revealed!), and when mothers and daughters are honest and truthful with one another, relationships can be repaired. But will they?

A very enjoyable, somewhat escapist read - I mean, the wealth of these people is startling!

Opening with one of the middle generation of the five female narrators of this book being arrested for prostitution in Aspen, we follow this Persian family back and forth through history and family secrets in a gossipy, surprising and lively novel which is entirely female-centric, men only serving as providers and objects.

In a refreshing change from common narratives of struggle, the immigrants to America are more like the characters in Jenny Jackson's "Pineapple Street" (in fact, like one of her characters, one of these resolves to give away her inherited wealth), well-off, privileged and entitled. And those left at home in Iran, matriarch Elizabeth and her granddaughter Niaz, have a different life from what one might imagine, Elizabeth seemingly inventing aerobics as only one of her creative solutions, and Niaz running bohemian parties in various parts of Tehran.

Shirin, Niaz's mother, is the centre of the narrative, bossy, flamboyant and controlling, her sister narrates from beyond the grave and niece Bita is trying to find her own way, with help from a friend.

Set in Los Angeles, Aspen, Houston, New York and Tehran, there's much to enjoy here, even though none of the characters are particularly attractive, and it's a polished effort, with sophisticated plotting and doubling (buying bras, bags of jewels, bare feet ...) showing the author's technical skills. An author who I will continue to look out for.

Blog review published 30 Jan https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2025/01/30/book-review-sanam-mahloudji-the-persians/

Sanam Mahloudji's "The Persians" was a nice surprise. t was so refreshing to see a novel about Persian women. So often, we do not get their perspectives or if we do, it's doom and gloom. This novel is a fun but well-rounded look at generations of Iranian women. There's a lightness to the narrative that makes this the perfect beach or next-to-the-fireplace read. Even when Mahloudji relates moments of racism and sexism the women face, Mahloudji's prose makes us care even more because we have grown to care about all of the women. Recommended.

I'm sorry to say this disappointed me. The premise of following the women of a multigenerational Iranian family is enticing as they leave Iran in the wake of the Shah in 1979 and emigrate to America. But this feels essentially frivolous where I wanted something that deals more seriously with the big topics being teased.

The book this reminds me of most is [book:Crazy Rich Asians|19047093] but where Kwan is self-conscious about the satire, throwing us all in to the ridiculous label-and-luxury lifestyle with full throttle irony and offsetting all the snobbery, greed, money and class friction with a cute true-love romance - in The Persians the lines aren't drawn in that way.

I can see that perhaps one of the things this book would like to do is challenges the stereotypes of, especially, Iranian women and to broaden the prevailing western view of the country with its long history of culture and knowledge. But these stories of women obsessed by their looks (Elizabeth's nose...) fall into other pigeonholes and are typecast in different but equally sterile ways.

This feels like a debut novel: the revolving narrators (five, I think?) all sound the same; the prose is chatty and sweary as if that makes it cool; there are family secrets to be uncovered for anyone who cares - frankly, I'd lost interest fairly soon.

A giveaway for me is an early scene where the Shah is deposed and the family is fleeing to America - what should be a traumatic experience for anyone feels like it's over in a few pages and the biggest concern is not leaving a daughter - conveniently - behind, but to not forget the gold and jewellery. And then we're on the plane, Louis Vuitton suitcases stashed and taking up space on the middle seat because heaven forbid this family shouldn't be allowed to spread out across the aisles.

I think this is a well-intentioned book but I soon found myself bored and skimming - if this weren't an ARC, I'd have DNF within the first 40 pages. Sorry, just not a book for me.