06/05/2026
Three books set in Tehran that I can’t stop thinking about.
I picked these up because historical fiction is my favorite genre, and the current political climate made Tehran a place I wanted to actually understand — not through headlines, but through the people who lived there.
The Stationery Shop and The Lion Women of Tehran are both by — quiet, patient, devastating.
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji is a different rhythm — younger, dreamier, a teenage boy’s view of a summer he’ll never get back.
What stayed with me wasn’t the politics. It was how rooted each character was in a specific place — a specific shop, a specific rooftop, a specific friendship that began on a specific street.
Have you read them? Which one hit you hardest?
