Rooftops of Tehran

Jonathan Ross's steady narration introduces 1973 Tehran, under the regime of the Shah, and the ironies of young Pasha Shahed's life. Before the 17-year-old leaves for college in the U.S., he imagines an idyllic summer of reading and smoking on the rooftop with his best friend. Unfortunately, he falls in love with the fiancée of his mentor. This development seems insignificant until the SAVAK, Iran's secret police, change Pasha's plans and the story's direction. In one terrifying night Pasha's actions accidentally help the police in seizing his mentor and setting into motion a horrifying chain of events. Though his narration is straightforward, Ross evokes Pasha's emotions of guilt and horror. As events advance, Ross's reading provides witness to the anger and fear of those living under the Shah's repressive government. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

March 30, 2009
Set in 1970s Iran during the shah's regime, this earnest, semiautobiographical debut novel is told from the perspective of bookish 17-year-old Pasha Shahed, who, along with his best friend Ahmed, plays soccer, goofs off and thinks about girls. But Pasha pines for one girl in particular—his neighbor Zari, betrothed since birth to Pasha's mentor, the neighborhood radical, Ramin Sobhi, whom everyone calls Doctor. Over a summer Ahmed orchestrates daily meetups with his own beloved, Faheemeh, and includes Pasha and Zari. Despite knowing he shouldn't, Pasha falls in love with Zari. The idyllic summer comes to an end when Doctor is abducted and killed by SAVAK, the not-so-secret police. The effects of Doctor's death on Pasha and Zari are traumatic and lead each to acts of transgression with tragic results. The prose has the simplicity of a nonnative English speaker, which could be seen as clichéd (“treasure of love,†“dark winter of my lifeâ€) or charmingly romantic. Seraji captures the thoughts and emotions of a young boy and creates a moving portrait of the history and customs of the Persians and life in Iran during this period.