2025 Wodehouse Prize (nominee)
2025 Women's Prize For Fiction (shortlist)
Shortlisted for The Women’s Prize • Named a most anticipated book by Electric Literature, Publishers Weekly, The BBC, Daily Mail (London), and more
A darkly funny, life-affirming debut novel following five women from a once illustrious Iranian family as they grapple with revolutions personal and political.
Meet the Valiat family. In Iran, they were somebodies. In America, they’re nobodies.
First there is Elizabeth, the regal matriarch with the famously large nose, who remained in Tehran despite the revolution. She lives alone but is sometimes visited by Niaz, her Islamic-law-breaking granddaughter, who takes her partying with a side of purpose and yet manages to survive. Elizabeth’s daughters wound up in America: Shirin, a charismatic and flamboyantly high-flying event planner in Houston, who considers herself the family’s future, and Seema, a dreamy idealist turned housewife languishing in the chaparral-filled hills of Los Angeles. And then there’s the other granddaughter, Bita, a disillusioned law student in New York City trying to find deeper meaning by quietly giving away her belongings.
When an annual vacation in Aspen goes wildly awry and Shirin ends up in jail, the family’s upper-class veneer is cracked open. Shirin embarks upon a quest to restore the family name to its former glory, but what does that mean in a country where the Valiats never mattered? Can they bring their old inheritance into a new tomorrow?
By turns satirical and philosophical, spanning from 1940s Iran to a splintered 2000s, The Persians upends the reader’s expectations while exploring questions about love, family, money, art, and how to find yourself and each other when your country is lost. Wry and witty, brazen and absurd, The Persians is a deeply moving reinvention of the American family saga.
Genre: Literary Fiction
A darkly funny, life-affirming debut novel following five women from a once illustrious Iranian family as they grapple with revolutions personal and political.
Meet the Valiat family. In Iran, they were somebodies. In America, they’re nobodies.
First there is Elizabeth, the regal matriarch with the famously large nose, who remained in Tehran despite the revolution. She lives alone but is sometimes visited by Niaz, her Islamic-law-breaking granddaughter, who takes her partying with a side of purpose and yet manages to survive. Elizabeth’s daughters wound up in America: Shirin, a charismatic and flamboyantly high-flying event planner in Houston, who considers herself the family’s future, and Seema, a dreamy idealist turned housewife languishing in the chaparral-filled hills of Los Angeles. And then there’s the other granddaughter, Bita, a disillusioned law student in New York City trying to find deeper meaning by quietly giving away her belongings.
When an annual vacation in Aspen goes wildly awry and Shirin ends up in jail, the family’s upper-class veneer is cracked open. Shirin embarks upon a quest to restore the family name to its former glory, but what does that mean in a country where the Valiats never mattered? Can they bring their old inheritance into a new tomorrow?
By turns satirical and philosophical, spanning from 1940s Iran to a splintered 2000s, The Persians upends the reader’s expectations while exploring questions about love, family, money, art, and how to find yourself and each other when your country is lost. Wry and witty, brazen and absurd, The Persians is a deeply moving reinvention of the American family saga.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"At once funny and profound, sprawling and personal, The Persians questions history's grip on our lives - is it possible to free ourselves from the past, and do we even want to? A gloriously engrossing debut." - Tash Aw
"An epic of intricate and beautiful proportion, The Persians is exuberant, comic, and perceptive. I fell in love with the women of the Valiat family and won't soon forget them." - Amina Cain
"Filled with heartbreak, humor, and so much love, The Persians is a sharp exploration of the concerns of a wealthy Iranian family. Sanam Mahloudji takes us on a journey to reshape our understanding of power, heritage, and ancestry - and brings a rare wisdom to the chaos of family." - Vanessa Chan
"A captivating family saga, equally tragic and comic, The Persians is an unforgettable read with complex, chaotic characters you can't help but love." - Josie Ferguson
"A wonderful multi-generational family drama with characters you really care about. I'm still thinking about them now. I enjoyed it enormously." - Marian Keyes
"An irresistible novel about a singular yet wholly recognizable family. I fell in love with the women in the Valiat family: by turns feisty and foolish, wise and secretive, and full of so much love and longing it took my breath away. Sanam Mahloudji writes with such humor and zip that the heartbreak sneaks up on you. This is a remarkable debut." - Edan Lepucki
"A witty and deeply absorbing saga of a family whose fate is intertwined with modern Iran's. I always knew epic Iranian families like the Valiats existed, I had just never met any. These five fierce, passionate, wounded women are at once tragic and hilarious, each voice meticulously crafted and singularly true." - Dina Nayeri
"Half outrageous, compulsive, and shameless; half tender, loving, and funny: The Persians is a very brilliant, very special book." - Jessica Stanley
"The Persians is an ambitious, glorious feat of juggling. Five women's voices become one irresistible whole in this darkly funny, richly satisfying, wonderful debut." - Sarah Winman
"An epic of intricate and beautiful proportion, The Persians is exuberant, comic, and perceptive. I fell in love with the women of the Valiat family and won't soon forget them." - Amina Cain
"Filled with heartbreak, humor, and so much love, The Persians is a sharp exploration of the concerns of a wealthy Iranian family. Sanam Mahloudji takes us on a journey to reshape our understanding of power, heritage, and ancestry - and brings a rare wisdom to the chaos of family." - Vanessa Chan
"A captivating family saga, equally tragic and comic, The Persians is an unforgettable read with complex, chaotic characters you can't help but love." - Josie Ferguson
"A wonderful multi-generational family drama with characters you really care about. I'm still thinking about them now. I enjoyed it enormously." - Marian Keyes
"An irresistible novel about a singular yet wholly recognizable family. I fell in love with the women in the Valiat family: by turns feisty and foolish, wise and secretive, and full of so much love and longing it took my breath away. Sanam Mahloudji writes with such humor and zip that the heartbreak sneaks up on you. This is a remarkable debut." - Edan Lepucki
"A witty and deeply absorbing saga of a family whose fate is intertwined with modern Iran's. I always knew epic Iranian families like the Valiats existed, I had just never met any. These five fierce, passionate, wounded women are at once tragic and hilarious, each voice meticulously crafted and singularly true." - Dina Nayeri
"Half outrageous, compulsive, and shameless; half tender, loving, and funny: The Persians is a very brilliant, very special book." - Jessica Stanley
"The Persians is an ambitious, glorious feat of juggling. Five women's voices become one irresistible whole in this darkly funny, richly satisfying, wonderful debut." - Sarah Winman
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