The Septembers of Shiraz

By Dalia Sofer

What was it like to be a wealthy Jew in Iran after the fall of the Shah and the rise of the Islamic totalitarian regime? Isaac Amin and his wife Farnaz and their young daughter Shirin are living the good life when it all comes crashing down when Isaac is arrested and thrown into prison. His crime? Well, truly his crime is being a wealthy Jew. His alleged crime is that he is spying for Israel. This is based on the fact that he has traveled to Israel a few times in the past and that is proof enough of his guilt to the intolerant religious fanatics running Iran after the fall of the Shah.
Isaac is a self-made man. He father was a cold and indifferent man and an alcoholic. Isaac built his business from the ground up. He and his family have lived well, traveling to Europe, owning a vacation home; he drives a Jaguar.
At the start of the novel, Isaac is suddenly arrested and imprisoned. He is interrogated and tortured when he refuses to admit to being a spy.
His wife, Farnaz, doesn't even know where her husband has been taken. She visits the local prisons trying to track her husband down. She is never permitted to see him. His brother, who is a bootlegger, comes to Farnaz for money so that he may flee the country as he is afraid he will soon be arrested too. He is not the only one anxious to escape. All the time Farnaz hears of people who are sneaking out of Iran. All the time she hears of people who have been arrested on the slightest of pretexts and executed. A talented pianist friend is arrested and murdered. His crime: he played the piano for the Shah.
While Isaac is suffering under harsh treatment in prison, his employees take advantage of his absence to loot his business and steal his assets. Farnaz catches them in the process and tries to stop them. She pleads with them and asks them why they have turned against the man who gave them good jobs. Their response is to call her a "dirty Jew."

This is a very good story about a terrible, cruel regime and its destruction of a nation as seen through the eyes of a family subjected to its excesses. Although it is a work of fiction it tells the truth about Iran and religious intolerance. It's a must read for anyone interested in the Middle East.

Review by Caroline Miller in The Guardian:   https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/sep/20/roundupreviews.fiction.