MARSHA MEHRAN

Review Summaries and Quotes on The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty

 Quotes on

The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty

“Like Mehran’s earlier works, this book is full of vivid characters and richly sensual detail.”

Sunday Morning Herald

“The all-consuming focus of the creative process grew stronger in her third book, The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty, a magical-realist examination of her Iranian roots and Persian literature bound tightly with inspiration from her life in Buenos Aires as the Falklands War loomed.”

  UK Independent

“Clever and heart-warming”

 Woman’s Day

“glorious, daring and delightful”

Adrian Trigiani

“quirky and wonderfully fleshed-out Characters… highly recommended”

Library Journal

Media Reviews on

The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty

In Short Fiction Reviews

A short review was published by Sydney Morning Heralds in New South Wales, The Age in Victoria, Brisbane Times in Queensland, and the Canberra Times.

In this review, it has been mentioned that Marsha appears to have been in “an almost possessed state about writing the novel (The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty), which isn’t hard to imagine given its subject matter. In the wake of the Iranian revolution, a handful of displaced Iranians living in Buenos Aires meet for weekly readings of Persian poetry, much of it with a strong streak of mysticism, through which each exile rediscovers beauty and meaning. Like Mehran’s earlier work, this book is full of vivid characters and richly sensual detail.”

 Book Lovers’ Review of

Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty

A review by Reza

Reza, a member of the Goodread community, explains in his review of The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty that Marsha creates a unique sense of Iranian characteristic, a sense that as if you, as the reader, were present and a part of the session. This is achieved by putting the poetry reading sessions at the heart of the story, sprinkling her narrative with Rumi, Hafez and Attar. 

Reza strongly recommends this book, specially to those who have an interest in Persian poetry!

To read more, please click the link above.

A review by Merianne

“Against the backdrop of the Falklands War, the characters’ lives and loves are told, and the reader is treated to some enchanting Iranian poetry. There is a definite Maeve Binchy feel to this novel: realistic characters leading ordinary lives, yet charming the reader.

In the Afterword, Mehran’s father, Abbas Mehran discloses that there is a strong element of the author’s personal experience in this novel. A very handy glossary of Iranian words is included. Marsha Mehran’s tragic death in early 2014 means that this captivating novel is the last time the reading public will enjoy this talented author’s work.”

A review by Sharon Horkings

“Beautiful story intertwined with Persian poetry. Very sad to think that Marsha did not see her hard work completed in a novel but thankfully her family ensured the book’s publication.”

A review by Roberta

Translated from Italian

He snapped off the shelf “novelty” in a bookstore because the title is certainly appealing: who can come up with to name a beauty salon in Margaret Thatcher? A single mother of Iran, fled from a country that despises his condition and over for the event in Argentina as he tried to go to Iowa, looking American who has made her pregnant.

Luck smiles at the airport, where he meets his compatriot that will divert to Buenos Aires and Building improbable name of Anna Karenina. The building houses a number of Iranians fled their country and would rebuild together two activities typical of their culture: the hammam and a circle of poetry.

Women talk while you shave and you pass the henna. The only man really this is the captain, promoter of literary evenings where you read and comment poems Iranian. There are moments of rupture (a wife reacts to her abusive husband, a perfect daughter indulges in a fit of rage …) but all in all history is delicate and feminine. Difficult lives and original flow in the words of these women and the often unspoken weighs more than told.

I did not know the author. Reading the final appendix I found that she died young, only 36 years old and this is his third and last novel, published by his father. Apparently the story is very biographical. Probably I will try the two previous books

A review by Annalise

“This book has some beautiful, poignant moments, and a huge amount of potential, but…
I found the whole thing quite disjointed; there were story lines and concepts begun but not continued.”

Italian Edition Published by Neri Pozza

Buenos Aires, primavera del 1982. Al numero 1796 di avenida de Florida si erge l’Anna Karenina, uno splendido palazzo storico che ospita un gruppo di fuoriusciti iraniani. Cuore e anima della piccola comunità è Haji Khanoum, donna dal passato misterioso, che esegue ogni mattina la danza rotante dei sufi. È grazie a lei che nel condominio fa la sua comparsa una giovane donna con la figlia. Zadi, così si chiama la ragazza, ha appreso in Iran l’antica arte del band andazi, la depilazione con il filo, e decide di aprire un salone di bellezza proprio nel palazzo, che da quel momento si anima magicamente. Un altro inquilino, chiamato il Capitano, inizia a raccogliere intorno a sé i suoi connazionali appassionati di poesia, e le serate al numero 1796 di avenida de Florida diventano il centro di aggregazione per gli iraniani di tutta Buenos Aires che non vogliono recidere il legame con il loro tormentato paese. Emergono così le storie degli abitanti della piccola enclave. Quella di Haji Khanoum, ad esempio, e del grande amore della sua vita. O quella del Capitano Soheil Bahrami, che dopo quasi trent’anni trascorsi nel famigerato carcere di Evin vive ora con la figlia Sheema, una studentessa di medicina innamorata di una naturalista americana. E ancora, quella di Parastoo, l’apprendista di Zadi, sposata con un uomo che le ha fatto credere di poter fare fortuna in America, e che adesso la tiranneggia. Oppure quella di Homa e Reza, che di giorno lavorano al mercato e la sera dipingono miniature; o, infine, quella del giovane rivoluzionario Houshang, infatuato di Zadi, della politica e di Cartesio. E mentre l’Inghilterra di Margaret Thatcher dichiara guerra all’Argentina per le Falkland, una nuova inquilina si presenta al numero 1796 di avenida de Florida. Dice di chiamarsi Khanoum Soltani, ma somiglia moltissimo all’attivista per i diritti delle donne iraniane Farzaneh Farahanguiz, scomparsa dal suo paese in modo misterioso. E gli abitanti del palazzo, tra amori segreti, confessioni commoventi, riflessioni profonde e ricordi di un tempo perduto per sempre, aiutati dalla loro «antica arte del raccontare storie, percorrono il viaggio della vita rafforzati dall’unità e dalla comunanza». Con una trama avvincente e una lingua aggraziata che mescola culture e mondi lontani, Marsha Mehran ha lasciato ai suoi lettori un collage di storie armonioso e toccante che ne conferma l’assoluto talento, e accresce la commozione e il rimpianto per la sua prematura scomparsa. ordinabile a IBS L’ultimo romanzo dell’autrice Codi Caffè Babilonia Un romanzo pieno di grazia e di fascino che unisce culture e mondi differenti. Un collage di storie armoniose e toccanti, esotiche e divertenti, che è un inno al potere magico della letteratura.