Tehran Is Peaceful At Night

English sample translation by Eleanor Collins available
2016 Culture and Sponsorship Award of the Hannover Lutheran Church
Ulla Hahn Prize 2016
Shortlisted for the ZDF “aspekte” Literature Prize 2016
Uwe Johnson Debut Award 2017
80,000 copies sold

Four family members, four decades, four unforgettable voices

In 1979, Behsad, a young communist revolutionary is fighting for a new order after the Shah is exiled. He tells of clandestine activities, of an electrifying hope and how he discovers the love of his life in book-lover Nahid.

1989, in Germany: Behsad and Nahid escaped with their children after the Mullahs seized power. Hours are spent listening to the radio in the hope of hearing news from friends who have gone into hiding. They want to return at all costs, yet at the same time they must try to make their home in a new and strange land.

In 1999, their daughter Laleh visits Tehran with her mother for the first time after their escape. Amid “kafishaps”, beauty rituals, and whispered secrets, Laleh discovers a country that has little in common with her childhood memories.

In 2009, her brother Mo is watching the tame student demonstrations in Germany unfold with amusement, when the Green Movement breaks out in Tehran and his life is suddenly turned upside down.

Shida Bazyar has written a captivating and tender mosaic of family life, as well as a highly topical, evocative novel about revolution, oppression, resistance, and the absolute desire for freedom.

»We always think we know a great deal about human beings, but then Shida Bazyar shows us with sparkling clarity that we still have so much to learn.« Olga Grjasnowa