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In the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, rare-gem dealer Isaac Amin is arrested, wrongly accused of being a spy. Terrified by his disappearance, his family must reconcile a new world of cruelty and chaos with the collapse of everything they have known. As Isaac navigates the terrors of prison, and his wife feverishly searches for him, his children struggle with the realization that their family may soon be forced to embark on a journey of incalculable danger.

Average Customer Rating:

Well done	Customer Rating:
The Septembers of Shiraz was well written. I enjoyed every page. Looking forward to more books by Dalia Sofer.

Interesting and very informative	Customer Rating:
When I first started this book, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read it. It has some pretty graphic torture. Since I was reading it for my book group, I stuck with it, and am very glad I did. It is a sensitive and very moving story. I recommend reading Persepolis with it.The Complete Persepolis

Exquisite

Customer Rating:

This story seemed too perfect to be made up. Either this writer is a prodigy, or the book autobiographical. Either way, you will not find a more incisively written, detail oriented depiction of what life was like in Iran after the Shah left. The details of prison life were painful to read, and enabled one to vividly imagine the fate so many innocent people suffered. The author escaped Iran when she was ten years old, the age of the daughter of the protagonist. How lucky we all are that she survived.

Couldn't connect with the characters

Customer Rating:

I feel like I was reading a different book than the rest of the reviewers. To me, the characters were all distant and hard to connect with, which made it hard for me to feel an investment in their evolutions or futures. The most compelling character and the story I was most interested in was the subplot about the daughter and the files. She was the only character that felt real to me. I would have liked to read more about her, but the rest of the family I could take or leave. Had I not been on a plane when reading it, I probably wouldn't have finished the book, and I finish everything.

Did I read the same book as everyone else?

Customer Rating:

After looking at the rave reviews for The Septembers of Shiraz, I chose it as my book club selection. Now I'm wondering what all the hype was about? While I find the subject matter compelling and heartbreaking, I found the writing and book to be neither. The characters lacked depth and were 2 dimensional at best, the ending was contrived and way too simplistic, and I felt as though I were hearing the story from someone who'd heard it second hand. When I finished the novel, I read "about the author," and it turns out I was right- I was hearing it third hand. I had high hopes for this book, and I was very dissappointed.