Aria is the story of a young girl, abandoned on the streets of Tehran and taken in by a poor soldier. It follows her through to adulthood and motherhood of her own, while highlighting her relationship with three very different women who mothered her at different times. Aria’s often harrowing story unfolds against the backdrop of Iranian history and the lead up to the 1976 revolution. It did a good job highlighting the many divisions in the country at the time. For me this was one of those frustrating books that I wanted to love but only ended up liking without quite being able to say why. 

Iranian Khalid Hosseini

This was a very powerful read. I would say that this is a good companion to Persepolis. The author deftly weaves the tale of Aria's life against the backdrop of an Iran where social, ethnic and political upheavals are bubbling beneath the surface and eventually boil over. The author shows how seemingly innocuous beliefs and ideologies galvanize individuals who are vulnerable in various ways. The author did a fantastic job of showing how various extreme belief systems, colonization and imperialism can and do impart harm, promote hate and encourage violence. Hozar demonstrates in compelling ways how severe the cost of complacency and the lack of education and freedom are. 

I found that there were some beautiful passages of writing in this story. By and large the pacing was slow and the way the story is told was at times confusing. There are several points of view but these were at times difficult to distinguish. I believe this was in part due to the fact that the character work was generally shallow and lacked some complexity. Aria herself felt somewhat empty, her emotional development never quite seemed to reach the surface. As though nothing that happened in her life ever really impacted or changed her. The narrative built around Aria and her 3 mothers was interesting but didn't quite impact me emotionally. 

Reading this book for the first time as the Women Life Freedom uprising continues in Iran felt timely, informative and made this story all the more gut wrenching as the exact occurrences on the pages have been playing out in Iran among other places continuously for years and years. Highly, Highly recommend this book! 

Beautifully written story of watching a young girl grow up in the lead-up and during the Iranian Revolution. The complexity of the characters was rich and it was interesting to see how different characters were affected by each other without knowing it. I appreciated how the story was centred without belabouring the historical details but if you aren't familiar with the history, you may want to do some cursory research to better understand the context but of course, that should be on the reader, not the author, for fiction in my opinion.

The first section exploring the character's young childhood were poignant, frustrating, and hooked me with strong emotional depth. The middle section about her adolescence was a bit drawn out and the ending felt rushed and abrupt; however, the conclusion probably is best considering the purpose of the novel. Just as a personal preference, I tend to like tighter, resolved endings. 

This book is a wonderful reflection on intergenerational trauma, women's agency, political disruption and resistance, and how people adapt amidst social upheaval.

Note: I listened to the audiobook and it was difficult to fully follow the dialogue and narrative at times because there seemed a lack of signifiers for who was speaking, and the narrator didn't have much vocal variety. If that's an issue, you may want to try the print book (I imagine there'd be more clarity)>