While other Iranian girls of the early twentieth century cook, sew, and hope for marriage, Gohar climbs trees, reads books, and plays tar despite the banning of music in Iran. But when her forbidden correspondence with a non-Muslim boy is discovered, fear of banishment forces the fatherless Gohar to welcome the protection of a powerful nobleman. At 14, she marries his choice of husband, a 55-year-old politician—expecting to enter her marital home in a white chador and leave it in a white shroud. But fate takes her to Tehran, just as the Iranian parliament embarks on ending internal corruption and meddling by foreigners, despite Russian opposition. As the Russians conspire to overthrow the Iranian government and stop the reforms, Gohar joins a group of secular women to resist them.
Once their plans to overthrow the Iranian leadership fail, the Russians occupy northern Iran to pressure the central government to stop the reforms. People in Tehran rise in protest. As Tehran burns, Gohar falls in love with Aslan, a young Russian advocating democracy in Iran who had been instrumental in foiling the Russian plans. As the Russians approach Tehran, they demand the hand-over of all Russians who have collaborated with Iranian reformists, forcing Gohar to decide between her desire to join Aslan in exile and her duty to stay in Iran with her family and honor her marital vows.
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Silenced Whispers is an enthralling cross-cultural love story set against the backdrop of social upheaval in pre-WWI Tehran. Gohar is caught up amongst the sociopolitical turmoil in a tense and thought provoking story which has a profound impact on the reader.
Prose: Bellisario's novel benefits from an excellent level of description and historical accuracy which propels it to the next level. The prose is sharp, the characters are well rounded and the storyline is consistently compelling.
Originality: Silenced Whispers is a provocative drama with a heart-wrenching and emotional storyline that is gripping and affecting. Bellisario's excellently crafted tale also provides an lluminating insight into the harsh and oppressive social landscape of early 20th century Iran.
Character/Execution: Silenced Whispers is a character-led story with tense, naturalistic and affecting dialogue. The central character of Gohar, an adopted orphan forced to marry a politician 40 years her senior, is particularly well crafted and the reader forms an immediate connection with her plight.
Blurb: A tense and absorbing Iranian drama.
Date Submitted: April 17, 2024
Clarion Rating: 4 out of 5
Iran’s turn-of-the-century transformations spur a young couple to risk their lives in the gripping historical novel Silenced Whispers.
In Afarin Ordubadi Bellisario’s intriguing historical novel Silenced Whispers, a teenager comes of age in Iran, joining political reformers and defying convention to find love.
In the early twentieth century, Gohar is a fourteen-year-old adoptee who knows little about her origins. She is caught exchanging letters with a boy from another faith. Obliged to preserve her family’s reputation and secure her future, she accepts an arranged marriage to an older, widowed member of parliament.
Just as Gohar is catapulted into the responsibilities of womanhood, so, too, is her country caught up in a civil war that includes Russian and English occupation. Gohar sets out for Tehran, where she’s captivated by Aslan, a blue-eyed Russian who sympathizes with Iranian nationalists. She is curious about politics, is familiar with newspapers, takes chaperoned music lessons, and yearns for more than a domestic existence.
The novel is episodic and often focuses on family scenes to emphasize Gohar’s inner tension. Persian traditions wend into her everyday encounters, resulting in an immersive atmosphere. The choreographed social order is highlighted: Women’s circles are segregated from men’s, and women of Gohar’s standing need to be escorted from place to place.
As a heroine, Gohar subverts expectations, though she exercises caution in doing so. She is exhilarated to take walks by herself but also aware that doing so could involve the police. She joins a women’s society to aid the poor, serving as its courier while wearing a servant’s chador. In conversations with others, she develops a sense of the volatile cultural changes she’s living through: Some support the shah, and some oppose him; there are economic problems and community strife to deal with, too. Her outrage grows in time with her confidence as she witnesses injustices—and sometimes intervenes.
The prose is intimate and lively, with tension achieved via the fact that Gohar keeps her activities secret from her husband. Her entanglement with Aslan results in anticipation, too: She has to decide how far she’ll venture to be his ally. When an invasion forces a choice between joining him and her sense of duty, the obstacles before her redouble. With so much to handle, the novel rushes through some periods in time, though, including through World War I; connections ebb and wane. Still, the story moves toward a rewarding, twisting conclusion that reinforces the idea that people aren’t bound by their beginnings.
Iran’s turn-of-the-century transformations spur a young couple to risk their lives in the gripping historical novel Silenced Whispers, about choosing love even amid uncertainty.
A captivating and page-turning tale of a cross-cultural love affair set in Iran at a time of political upheaval and societal change by an author with intimate knowledge of her homeland...Magnificent for its historical, political, and cultural breadth.
Silenced Whispers, by debut novelist Afarin Bellisario, is a sumptuous feast of a book: deeply felt romance, political intrigue, fascinating history, and a female protagonist set in early 20th century Iran, whose goals and desires make her a heroine we can easily root for today. A must-read!
Riveting
Silenced Whispers is a riveting and beautifully written tale. Afarin's prose is purely lyrical at times. The story will have you on the edge of your seat. Don't skip the book!
- Raquel Howard, host
Gripping
Gohar is strong, resilient, passionate, and driven to do right even when it clashes with her desires. I was on pins and needles as I turned the pages to discover what might happen to her in this suspenseful novel filled with complex and compelling characters.
- Jennifer Bolanos, host
Didn’t want to put the book down to sleep. Well written, well-plotted, and historically interesting. The book is well editted and professionally produced, a rare feat these days even from major publisher, let alone a small one.
