The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

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What a beautiful story! Why did it have to end so fast! Or did I just read so quickly because I could not stop from knowing what would happen next.

Stories like The Pearl that broke it's shell or A Thousand Splendid suns and probably many more show us really sad states of affair for women. Subjugated to a Ife of beating, ill behaviour meted out by in laws and a baby making machine. Once you're done by the sadness of it all...turn your hearts and minds to The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali. Tender, heart warming and tugs at your heart like no other. It shows hope for young girls, to study and to make something worthwhile of their lives.
Here was a family where Baba was bent upon sending his daughters to study abroad. He believed they could bring about a change in society. The very belief that his daughters were worthy of education and respect and love marriage in a conservative country, itself brings pride that such babas existed. Then there was maman - mothers who taught all the things needed for a girl to become a good homemaker. So so endearing. When cooking was taking place in Roya's home, I could actually see her hovered over the stove by her mother's side. I could actually see what she was cooking. Actually smell the spices in the kitchen. Marjan has done a wonderful job of describing small details without it becoming boring.
Then young lovers met and their love blossomed amidst political slogans. Every time Roya and Bahman came into the scene, my heart skipped a beat. What really touched my inner teenager, I cannot fathom. Was it the sweetness of Roya that resembled so much of my teen years that I find endearing now, I don't know. She loved reading and she even frequented a little stationery shop like I found solace in the little library of my childhood years. Bahman - the handsome, the charmer, the one who makes Roya dream beautiful dreams makes my heart race! So much for teen romance. The way the world looks so beautiful when you're in love is something I totally believe in. So every time these two met in the book and walked out of the Stationery Shop, the world looked prettier, and flowers blossomed on branches leaving a waft of sweet smelling fragrance in the air. The description of the beautiful world is nothing short of poetry!
And then catastrophe strikes. It breaks hearts. One cannot imagine something so terrible could have happened. It was too real and too heart breaking. Well, I am an emotional reader!
Time moves on. Lifetimes change. The book becomes epistolary. I love the concept of writing letters and postcards. What a beautiful way to express ones thoughts and feelings.
Did things get better with time? Did love succeed? Does love have to be only romantic in nature? Does love have to end in marriage? Is love sacrifice and compromise and adjustment? Read The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali to find your answers.

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