The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

The story begins in the early 1950's Iran when a fledgling Democracy vies against U.S. Sanctioned monarchy. A young woman raised by progressive parents visits weekly a stationery shop that also sells books. There she meets a young man whose life path has already been determined by his mother. Despite this, they fall in love and determine to marry.  Then a sad, eventful day in 1953 leads to their separation for multiple decades. It reveals the pain and anguish which can extrude from the past to manipulate and damage the future of a beloved child. It is a poignant story of enduring love that tugs at the heart and explores the capriciousness of fate and the implacable existence of the evil intent of a terribly damaged soul.