French Hats in Iran cover art

French Hats in Iran

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

About this listen

All memoirs bring the past into the present, but only a few manage to illuminate both simultaneously. French Hats in Iran, a quietly insightful masterpiece of remembrance, belongs in that select group.

Heydar Radjavi's evocations of growing up in Tabriz in the 1930s and 1940s describe a traditionalist Iran grappling with modernity, a process as fraught with contradictions and stresses then as it is in Iran today.

In a series of mini-tales, we meet a rich cast of characters: the elderly father who works in the Tabriz bazaar and runs his household according to unbending religious precepts; the resourceful mother who finds ways to enjoy such forbidden frivolities as music; the female playmate who marries at the age of nine; the teacher whose personal journey takes him from strictest piety to political radicalism; and many more.

Finding a path through all the complexities is Radjavi himself - a wide-eyed little boy in some episodes, an adventurous teenager in others, and finally a young man preparing to enter a fast-changing world. The tone is always light, the memories wonderfully vivid, and the underlying theme of tension between old and new truly timeless.

©2011 Hedar Radjavi (P)2014 Mage Publishers Cultural & Regional Iran Middle East
All stars
Most relevant
It was very interesting. Not a normal novel, it will gives you informative about history and culture of Iran prior to revelation.

Very interesting book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.