Name: Eva Ströberg's review of Women Without Men by Shahrnūsh Pārsīʹpūr
Item: Women Without Men
Rating: 5
Author: Eva Ströberg

Shahrnūsh Pārsīʹpūr

A modern literary masterpiece, Women Without Men creates an evocative and powerfully drawn allegory of life in contemporary Iran. With a tone that is as stark and bold, yet magical, as its elegantly drawn settings and characters, internationally acclaimed writer Shahrnush Parsipur follows the interwoven destinies of five women -- including a prostitute, a wealthy middle-aged housewife, and a schoolteacher -- as they arrive, by many different paths, to live in a garden on the outskirts of Tehran. Reminiscent of a wry fable and drawing on elements of Islamic mysticism and recent Iranian history, Women Without Men depicts women escaping the narrow precincts of family and society -- only to face daunting new challenges. Shortly after the novel's 1989 publication, Parsipur was arrested and jailed for her frank and defiant portrayal of women's sexuality. Though still banned in Iran, this national best-seller was eventually translated into several languages, delighting new readers with the witty and subversive work of a brilliant Persian writer. Book jacket.

A Novel of Modern Iran

Women Without Men

laine

Eva Ströberg

This little book is banned in Iran.

The book tells the story of four women in Iran in the late 70s, right before the war. The sexism, the chauvinism, the misogyny, all in one, although I doubt that it changes much from there to now.

The women somehow ended up without men, whether they wanted or not and for some, it made their lives better. There's an element of magic and poetry in this book that one must take account of, but I felt miserable throughout my reading, not because the book or the story telling was bad, but because I felt how horrible it was to live as a woman there in that time and era.

I read the book in Danish and there's a little note in the back from the translator about how she translated the book from Persian to Danish and I believe she's done a fantastic job.

Safiya 

It was a surreal novella thay felt to some extent as a fairytale but a realist one.
Women as in the title are a recurrent theme and topic, their struggle, the oppression, and different journeys...
A sudden Sufi swerve takes place at the midst of he novella and gives it another layer of exotica...

I enjoyed reading this one, really.

laine &
Women Without Men by Shahrnūsh Pārsīʹpūr

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Women Without Men by Shahrnūsh Pārsīʹpūr