The Stationery Shop of Tehran (Marjan Kamali) - This one just tries too hard.

Stars: ⭐⭐(out of 5)

As books go, there is nothing wrong with The Stationery Shop of Tehran but there is nothing right either. This is a story about Roya and Bahman and their intense teenage crush leading to whirlwind courtship and the promise of marriage, one that is not kept and they lead their lives till old age, each believing the other reneged on the promise. The backdrop to their love story are the political upheavals during the late 1950s and the regime changes in Iran.

Roya is an independent minded free spirited girl in Iran whose favourite post school hang out spot is Mr. Fakhri's quaint Stationery shop. One day, Bahman, a handsome rebellious teenager breezes into the shop and into her life. Their clandestine meetings take place in the Stationery shop amidst books of poetry and romance. They decide they want to spend their lives together, even though Bahman's mother has chosen someone else for him and he has to go against her wishes for this. Through some twists and turns on the personal and political front, they don't end up getting married to each other, each blaming the other for being stood up. A heart broken Roya and her sister move to the US where life moves on and they gradually build new relationships and new lives. Tragedies and triumphs continue, till almost a lifetime later, fortune brings Zoya and Bahman face to face again. Roya was 17 the first time round and now she is 77. Yet, closure is needed for old scars to heal. It is a poignant moment when Roya and Bahman, in the twilight of their life, find that closure and open wounds heal after a decades of suffering in silence.

While the main story continues at a languid pace, with repeated and generous descriptions of Persian food being cooked in various kitchens, there are intertwined love stories of other characters from the past, that attempt to add meaning to the present. Back stories of minor characters come in to give colour to the present. Some pieces of the labouriously constructed puzzle fall into place towards the end, trying very hard to tug at the heart strings. The stationery shop reappears in another country far away from Iran, and is a fitting setting to make the old lovers meet again.

It is an honest attempt from Kamali's side to give us a love story set in turmoil, both internal and external, but it falls far too short of expectations. The writing is amateur in places, the character building is poor. Some characters, details, backstories are brought in for no reason and some to just neatly explain the present. The political backdrop and the implications of the country's politics or turmoil, or of the involvement of the main characters in it, do not form a part of the story. 

To be fair, it is difficult to match up to the brilliance of Khaled Hosseini's writing about a story of love, tragedy and struggle in a nation being torn apart (A Thousand Splendid Suns). Any author attempting that has a very steep mountain to climb.