A Mansion in the Sky: And Other Short Stories (CMES Modern Middle East Literatures in Translation)

Writing before and since the Iranian Revolution, Goli Taraghi publishes both in Iran and abroad. In this collection of stories, she poignantly describes her childhood in Tehran and portrays the experience of exile with her family. She was one of the first Iranian women to receive critical recognition as well as popularity for her short stories and novels. Although Taraghi avoids sensational experimentation, her narratives sparkle with a freshness of style and sensitivity. Whether she writes of a child tip-toeing through a room of delicate Persian furnishings or of a grandmother remembering those treasured lost objects, the room becomes alive for the reader. Taraghi rejects a political stance in her writings, but, at the same time, she comments with understated humor and wisdom on the social and cultural value system of her characters. After Taraghi left the patriarchal society of post-revolutionary Iran, she proceeded to make her work more autobiographical. Several of the stories in this collection deal with the acculturation process of moving after experiencing the heartbreak of uprooting and displacement. As a whole, these recent stories demonstrate a trend in which Taraghi views her creative self unflinchingly as feminine. Her work becomes richer and more complex as a result of this transformation. Translator Faridoun Farrokh gives the stories context and critical insight in an excellent introduction. He presents an easy-reading translation without losing the delightful Persian flavor of Taraghi's words.