Women Without Men: A Novel of Modern Iran

From an outspoken Iranian author comes a “charming, powerful novella” that is banned in Iran for its depiction of female freedom (Publishers Weekly).   “Parsipur is a courageous, talented woman, and above all, a great writer.” —Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis   This modern literary masterpiece follows the interwoven destinies of five women—including a wealthy middle-aged housewife, a prostitute, and a schoolteacher—as they arrive by different paths to live together in an abundant garden on the outskirts of Tehran. Drawing on elements of Islamic mysticism and recent Iranian history, this unforgettable novel depicts women escaping the narrow confines of family and society, and imagines their future living in a world without men.   Reminiscent of a wry fable, Women Without Men creates an evocative and powerfully drawn allegory of life in contemporary Iran. Shortly after the novel’s 1989 publication, Parsipur was arrested and jailed for her frank and defiant portrayal of women’s sexuality. Banned in Iran, this national bestseller was eventually translated into several languages, giving new readers access to the witty and subversive work of a brilliant Persian writer.   “Using the techniques of both the fabulist and the polemicist, Parsipur continues her protest against traditional Persian gender relations in this charming, powerful novella.” —Publishers Weekly

From Publishers Weekly

Using the techniques of both the fabulist and the polemicist, Paripur (Prison Memoirs) continues her protest against traditional Persian gender relations in this charming yet powerful novella. Imprisoned once for her dissident views, Paripur, a native of Iran, offers her five characters the opportunity to escape the relationships and mores that constrain them. All of the characters are led to the same metaphorical magic garden, a transcendent, timeless place where they are free to decide their fates. In most instances, this amounts to a rejection of men and marriage. Like Ovid's Daphne, Mahdokht transforms herself into a tree in order to prevent the shameful loss of her virginity. Munis, a 38-year-old virgin, is attacked and killed by her brother for refusing to obey him. She rises from the dead a psychic, heads for the garden and is raped along the way. Farrokhlaqa, a wealthy matron, accidentally kills her oppressive husband of 32 years. She then buys the magical garden where the women congregate. Only Zarrinkolah, the prostitute, discovers wedded bliss when she marries the "good gardener." The voices of the five separate narrators--delicately connected by plot and circumstance--give us variations on the theme of the mistreatment of women in contemporary Iran. Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Parsipur here synthesizes the voices of five women in contemporary Iran. Women without men?a prostitute, two unmarried women, a housewife, and a teacher?they all face serious oppression largely because of gender discrimination, cultural traditions, and notions of virginity and women's sexuality. They also seek and find freedom and some solace in the same garden. This garden, located in Karaj, near Tehran, becomes their utopia; the teacher Mahdokht becomes so distraught that she decides to plant herself like a tree in the garden and thus escape reality. Not Parsipur's first work of fiction on women in Iranian society, this novel often reads like a fairy tale, but it launches a strong statement about gender relations in Parsipur's home country. Parsipur currently lives in the United States. Recommended for fiction collections.?Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of Oregon Libs., EugeneCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Shahrnush Parsipur was born in Iran in 1946. While incarcerated by the Islamic Republic in the 1970s she wrote the first part of her masterpiece Touba and the Meaning of Night. Parsipur now lives and writes in exile in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1994 she was recognized by the Fund for Free Expression of Human Rights Watch--Lillian

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