The Stationery Shop of Tehran

Now in her seventies, Roya Archer has been living in New England with her husband, Walter, for 50 years. A trip to buy stationery has suddenly and overwhelmingly brought back memories of her youth in Tehran. Inspired by this experience, she makes an appointment to see her former love, Bahman, in the assisted living facility where he is now a resident.

Roya receives a surprisingly warm welcome to the facility from Claire Becker, the assistant administrator, who tells Roya that Bahman has spoken of her a great deal. When she approaches Bahman, who is in a wheelchair, he smiles and tells her he has been waiting for her visit. Suddenly feeling very tired and conscious of her age, Roya retorts, “all I’ve wanted to ask you is why on earth you didn’t wait last time” (9).

The narrative shifts back to Roya’s adolescence in Tehran. As she and her sister, Zari, eat breakfast, their progressive father, who is a strong believer in education, holds forth about his ambitions for them. Roya’s family are staunch supporters of the prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. Roya’s father is absolutely confident that Mossadegh will succeed in liberating his country from imperialist exploitation and lead them to full democracy, but his daughters are more doubtful.