This is intellectual and artistic literature, the type that is loaded with subtle meaning and far-out weirdness that defied logic and that fans could happily discuss and dissect for hours on end. I'm not sure why I picked this up, perhaps just a simple curiosity about the lifestyle and culture of Iranian women in the '50s, but I was not expecting this strange mix of realism and mystical. After puzzling over what I had just read, I turned to the Forward, which shed some light on this quirky novella, so I suggest that you do read that before you dive into the story. Intellectualizing aside (I'll leave that for the book clubs), the linked tales of these several women were compelling enough to make this a quick but not exactly satisfying read for me.

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