Persians, The(Shortlisted For The Women'S Prize For Fiction)

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 'Enormously entertaining' THE TIMES 'The word-of-mouth breakout' STYLIST 'As funny as it is moving' GUARDIAN 'A joy of a debut' DAVID MITCHELL 'Glorious' SARAH WINMAN A stunning debut novel following five women from three generations of a once eminent Iranian family as their lives are turned upside down The Valiat family are in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution and only has Niaz, her Islamic law-breaking granddaughter for company. In America, Elizabeth' s daughters, the flamboyantly high-flying Shirin and frustrated housewife Seema, are wondering if their new lives there are all they had hoped for. Lastly, there's the second granddaughter, Bita, a disillusioned law student trying to find deeper meaning by giving away her worldly belongings. When an annual vacation in Aspen goes wildly awry and Shirin ends up being bailed out of jail, gossip about the family spreads like wildfire. Soon, Shirin sets out to restore the family name to its former glory. But what does that mean in a country where the Valiats never mattered to anyone? And, will reputation be enough to make them a family again? The Persians is an irresistible portrait of a unique family in turmoil that explores timeless questions of love, money, art and fulfilment. Here is their past, their present and a possible new future for them all. A most anticipated novel of 2025 in Stylist, BBC and iNews. 'Funny, gutsy and confidently written ... an outstanding debut' DIANA EVANS, 2025 Women's Prize Judge 'Mesmerising' MONICA ALI 'Riotous ... will have you hooked' STYLIST 'A darkly funny read about mothers and daughters, love and loss and being true to yourself' RED 'As exuberant as it is sharp' iNEWS 'A sweeping and irreverent tale' BBC 'Gloriously engrossing' TASH AW 'Exuberant, comic, perceptive' AMINA CAIN 'A very brilliant, very special book' JESSICA STANLEY Review: 'This polyphonic novel is brimming with larger-than-life characters ... funny, gutsy and confidently written ... outstanding' Diana Evans, 2025 Women's Prize Judge 'A richly textured, sometimes tragic novel that's enormously entertaining' The Times 'The word-of-mouth breakout ... will have you hooked from the first action-filled chapter' Stylist 'Full of outrageous laughter, retaining its fire even in tender moments, and relishing the challenge of locating beauty and complexity within outright gaudiness' Observer 'Larger-than-life characters ... leap off the page in a novel bursting with grudges, gossip and complex personal dynamics' Mail on Sunday 'Mahloudji writes with a wisdom and confidence rarely seen in a debut ... Multigenerational stories ... remain as popular as ever, from ... Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and Elif Shafak's stunning exploration of generational trauma, The Island of Missing Trees. The Persians earns a place alongside these heavyweights' Guardian 'Mahloudji's moving, madcap saga of women in exile [is] a relentlessly entertaining exploration of Iranian-American immigrant life' Financial Times 'A darkly funny read about mothers and daughters, love and loss and being true to yourself' RED 'Exuberant, whip-smart, infused with melancholy, tragicomic, huge-hearted and sharp-toothed ... A joy of a debut novel by the real deal' David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas 'A wonderful multi-generational family drama with characters you really care about ... I enjoyed it enormously' Marian Keyes, author of My Favourite Mistake 'Mesmerising ... Gorgeously written, with a flair for the comic and characters that dance off the page and into your heart' Monica Ali, author of Love Marriage 'An ambitious, glorious feat ... darkly funny, richly satisfying' Sarah Winman, author of Still Life 'At once funny and profound, sprawling and personal' Tash Aw, author of We, The Survivors 'An unforgettable read' Josie Ferguson, author of The Silence In Between Author Biography: SANAM MAHLOUDJ was born in Tehran, which she left during the Islamic Revolution. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and was nominated for a PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Her writing has appeared in McSweeney's, the Idaho Review, the Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. Mahloudji lives in London with her husband and two children. The Persians is her debut novel.