Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde

The second of three books from The Willoughby Book Club I received as part of my 3 month subscription. I assume they sent me this as I told them that I really liked The Kite Runner, once again this isn't the kind of book I would have picked up. The book tells us the story of Nahid and Masood, two young lovers from Tehran in the late 70's. They get caught up in the Iranian revolution in a way that puts their very existence at risk. Escape is the only option so they travel to Sweden on forged passports. The story then jumps to the present day with Nahid fighting cancer and with everyone else in her life. Along the way she reflects on the decisions she had made in her life and how everything turned out.… (mehr)

La Nahid té càncer i, durant dos anys, lluita per sortir-se'n. Mentrestant, ens explica què sent, com ho afronta i els records que li vénen mentre el càncer va evolucionant. La revel·la la injustícia de tenir una malaltia terminal sent ella tan jove (50 anys), però també reflexiona sobre allò que ha viscut: la seva infantesa a l'Iran, la revolució, l'exili, el divorci, les pèrdues. Però el que més m'ha commogut ha estat la sinceritat amb què explica la incapacitat que té sovint per mostrar alegria, per comunicar a la seva filla (i en general, a tota la gent que l'envolta) la seva gratitud, la seva tendresa, quan, en canvi, només li surt el malhumor.
Una traducció magnífica Meritxell Salvany.… (mehr)

This is a gut punch of a little book. It is emotionally wrenching, but also touching. The protagonist felt so real, with all the flaws and faults that we all have, even if we do a better job of hiding them from others. There's something devastating here for everyone, whether it's war and government oppression, domestic abuse, the refugee experience, the loss of loved ones, or slow death by cancer. Despite the overwhelming gloom, however, there's just a bit of light here, and the ending felt exactly correct to me. This is a short book, but one that has stuck in my mind since I put it down.… (mehr)