The Immortals of Tehran

This sweeping multi-generational debut tells the story of a centuries-old curse carrying one family to the brink of the 1979 Iranian revolution--and announces the arrival of a bold new literary talent.

The Torkashvand family reveres their seemingly immortal patriarch, Agha, the trunk of their widely branching, family tree. When we come to the story, Agha is so old that he spends his days sitting in the family orchard, drinking tea and telling stories to his great-great-great-great grandson Ahmad.

Agha's favorite story tells of a family curse that seems to shed light on the political turmoil roiling Iran and foretell Ahmad's fated role in the country's future.

There is certainly something plaguing Ahmad's family. At the age of ten Ahmad witnesses his father's suicide and consequently loses his voice. But this is only the beginning of what will become another very long life: of many loves and losses, of ever-tangled family dramas, a doomed career in politics, and of incendiary poetry, all of which converge and catch fire at the center of the Revolution.

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Praise for The Immortals of Tehran

“It’s a book about me. It’s a book about you, too.”

– Kaveh Akbar, author of ​Pilgrim Bell

Audio Book, Read by Peter Ganim

“This is a book that is both timeless and for our troubled times . . .”

​– Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, author of When Skateboards Will Be Free​ and Brief Encounters with the Enemy

Reviews of The Immortals of Tehran

Shelf Awareness | "The Immortals of Tehran"

Chicago Review of Books | "A Revolution is Coming in “The Immortals of Tehran”"

Library Journal | "The Immortals of Tehran"

Publishers Weekly | "The Immortals of Tehran"

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"A highly recommended literary page-turner worth a second reading; fans of Gabriel García Márquez will delight in this fantastical—and fantastic" novel. 

- Library Journal

Translations of The Immortals of Tehran

Dutch / Nederlands

Nieuw Amsterdam, 2020. Translated by Anneke Bok and Nan Lenders.

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