I'll Be Strong for You

Praise

“Moving….Marashi succeeds at depicting her characters’ limited freedom in an otherwise modern society. Readers of women’s fiction will appreciate this.”
— Publisher’s Weekly

“This book accomplishes the amazing feat of allowing each of us to recognize a bit of ourselves in its characters, despite being firmly set in Iran. It is filled with realistic and touching portraits that show just how much we have in common with each other, despite our differences, beyond identities and borders. Bravo as well to the translator, Poupeh Missaghi, for the fluidity of the storytelling.”
— Négar Djavadi, award-winning author of Disoriental

“Nothing short of extraordinary. A born enchanter in her native land — Iran — makes landfall on our shores. I couldn’t stop reading once I began, and remained, forever, as if on the threshold of her dreams.”
— Lila Azam Zanganeh, Booker judge, author of The Enchanter: Nabokov and Happiness

“I’ve heard lots of buzz about Nasim Marashi’s debut novel and after reading I’ll Be Strong for You, I am happy to know all the hype was deserved! Marashi delivers this story of three young women in Iran over two seasons with astonishing accuracy, empathy, and artistry. Their dilemmas are both small and large—the intimacy here is also uniquely universal in its predicament. I am glad we have Marashi as our guide here through this journey into the real soul of Iranian life today.”
—Porochista Khakpour, author of Sick and of Brown Album: Essays on Exile & Identity

“I’ll Be Strong for You is a beautiful story of friendship and love, rendered in the context of Iran. At once universal and specific to Iranian familial and social culture, written with an elegant and true pen, it is an extremely endearing novel. The kind of book that one never wishes to finish…”
— Parisa Reza, author of The Gardens of Consolation