Mistress of the Persian Boarding House

“[A] gutting and glorious debut novel. . . . Courage, decency, and kindness to strangers form the emotional bedrock of this fascinating story.”
—Toronto Star

“Nemat’s prose, inspired by her paternal grandmother’s life, flows smoothly, like a babbling brook down a mountain. . . . The most enjoyable book I have read.”
—Winnipeg Free Press

“In Mistress of the Persian Boarding House, I was transported from the elegant drawing rooms of 1914 Russia to the wild and sometimes harsh beauty of post-war Iran. In pre-revolution Russia, Zina has lived a life of innocent privilege, but the realities of the Bolshevik uprising catch up with her family with truly heartbreaking consequences. Her innocence shattered, she is exiled and is delivered into the arms of Irina, mistress of a boarding house in Tehran. It is here that Zina truly becomes a woman of both bravery and heart—and fosters a community of women during a season of great change in the country she now calls home. Motherhood, politics, love, and sisterhood are transformative forces in this compelling story, based on the author’s grandmother. Mesmerizing and intimate, this novel sweeps you away into a past that seems even more relevant today, and with one of my favourite themes: women helping other women. A gripping, must-read for our times.”
—Donna Jones Alward, bestselling author of When the World Fell Silent and Ship of Dreams

“Nemat fully inhabits the heart, mind, and soul of her Russian grandmother in order to re-imagine her flight from revolutionary 1917 St. Petersburg to exile in Tehran. From the childhood delight of catching snowflakes with her tongue to the terror of negotiating for life with a rapist at gunpoint, here is a master storyteller moving seamlessly from memoir to historic fiction in an epic tale of family upheaval. Uncanny timing. A book for our times.”
—Roxana Spicer, bestselling author of The Traitor’s Daughter

“The question is how to live with grace in a world of torment. I was enchanted by Nemat’s characters, who manage to create family and love in the loss and alienation of exile. Set in Iran and Russia, this timely novel gives us insight into turbulent politics and how women survive. It is a history of the soul in miniature. It is a beautiful read.”
—Kim Echlin, author of Speak, Silence

“A sweeping yet intimate story about the human cost at the heart of some of recent history’s most violent and devastating events. Written in . . . beautiful and tender prose, I could not put this down. It is an extraordinary novel, one of strength, resilience, and the most incredible spirit. Historical, and yet extremely relevant to modern times.”
—Lori Inglis Hall, bestselling author of The Shock of the Light

“Mistress of the Persian Boarding House reads as a deeply personal conversation with a long-lost soulmate caught in the whirlwind of the tumultuous and turbulent 20th century. In today’s scary and uncertain world, the author is reaching out to her grandmother who witnessed catastrophic wars, social revolutions, and ideological battles, to understand her strength and resilience—and to learn from it. Time and again, her grandmother’s life journey seems to supply the answers to eternal questions: How do you face senseless violence without giving in to self-destructive hatred? How do you keep seeing beauty in a world that too often seems immeasurably cruel? How do you find compassion for your enemies or empathize with someone who is so obviously wrong? This is an uplifting and heartwarming story about refusing to give up hope and drown in despair, about maintaining humanity and kindness against the backdrop of unimaginable horrors.”
—Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian opposition leader, author, historian, and former political prisoner