Simin

A book to read that fill the gap that exists in writings about Iran. It was with excitement that I started to read Sky of Red Poppies by Zohreh Ghahremani. Lately, every thing I read is about Iran, both scholarly observations and writing of Diaspora including personal and jailhouse memoirs. Sky of Red poppies picked my interest as a story about friendship but by the time I finished reading it, I realized it was much more than just a retelling of lives of two friends from two very different backgrounds. The time period before the Iranian Revolution of 1979 has always interested me and unfortunately very little of personal accounts has been published about the build up to the revolution by those who took part or experienced it. I expected an interesting trip through the lives of two friends, but what I got was so, so much more than that.

This book does a phenomenal job exploring not only personal challenges that two friends face on their own, but the history and attitudes of late 1960's time period in Iran among the younger generation and their hope for change is crafted into the story with much care and lovingly portrayed. What pulled me into this novel at first was the richness of the relationships but the struggles for finding one's voice when all sounds are suppressed and how much people are willing give up for what they believe was amazingly refreshing and on target. The sky of Red Poppies looks at the best and worst of human relationships, sacrifices we make, the way we regard others, and most of all the way we find ourselves, and the choices we make along the way. Mostly, though this book reminds us that there is always room and it is never too late for forgiveness and redemption.

I finished this book in tears, moved by the people who I felt walked into to my life and shared their story. Their struggles to come to terms with their own lives and the lives of the ones they hoped to change, so vividly told by Zohreh Ghahremani, became mine as well. This book is a perfect choice for anyone craving a compelling story about human nature at its worst and at its best and a perfect book club selection. Sky of Red Poppies gives readers a chance to weave their own memories of friendships they cherished into the story while reminding everyone of us that commitment to a cause, whatever it may be has a price. Highly recommended.