By Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
A capacity audience of enthusiastic readers turned out for the affable Marjan Kamali’s talk about her new book, “The Lion Women of Tehran,” and her development as a writer at the Westwood Public Library (WPL).
Kamali’s father was an Iranian diplomat, and, as a result, the family lived in several different countries in her formative years. They lived in Iran twice, when Kamali was two to five years old and again when she was nine to eleven and a half years old. During that time, she enjoyed a close friendship with a schoolmate.
Soon, the family increasingly had to shelter in the basement during air raids. Kamila passed the time by learning about literature while reading her mother’s Penguin Classic books. She was awed by “the superpower” of the author to “take you away to another time and another place.”
When Kamali’s father got an illness exemption from the Iranian lockdown, the family had to leave Iran suddenly, “with the stove still on.” She didn’t have time to say goodbye to her school friend.
In the US, Kamali was expected, as one who had gotten away from repression in Iran, to study hard and become a successful professional in medicine or law to make up for those who couldn’t. She did attend medical school, but within two weeks, she was encouraged by a professor to pursue her passion for literature and writing. So, she enrolled in NYU’s writing program, while switching from medical school to business school. She attended both business school and NYU at the same time.
While still in school, she began to write a book, but she put it aside for several years while raising children. Later, with her husband’s encouragement, she began to write again. Her novels, “Together Tea” and “The Stationery Store,” as well as her new book, “The Lion Women of Tehran,” are all based partly in Iran and partly in the US.
“The Lion Women of Tehran” tells the story of a strong friendship between two young girls in Tehran, Iran, their separation, and their eventual reconciliation. In her real life, Kamali did reconnect with her school friend after many years.
Kamali explained that “lion women” were those Iranian women that were “enraged at what humanity allowed to happen” to them. They are “unstoppable, defiant” and their “rebellion is driven by rage.”
“The Lion Women of Tehran” because an Instant Bestseller and a Book of the Month Club Main Selection. See more about Marjan Kamali and her books at marjankamali.com.
