Her Eyes

Her Eyes was originally published in 1952 and is recognized by many scholars as Bozorg Alavi's finest novel. Alavi, a leading contemporary Persian writer and a champion of the Left, is well known for his political activism, which led to his imprisonment in Iran under the regime of Reza Shah. Her Eyes is the story of Farangis, a member of the Iranian upper class whose life of leisure has left her without employable skills. Despairing, she enrolls in a Parisian art school, only to discover that she is severely lacking as a painter. She returns to Iran to participate in the political activities of Ostad Makan, Iran's greatest painter. This most popular of Alavi's novels, translated into English for the first time, presents a realistic picture of 20th-century Iran in the throes of rapid, forced modernization. Co-published with the Persian Heritage Foundation.