My Bird - (Middle East Literature in Translation) by Fariba Vafi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this powerful story of life, love, and the demands of marriage and motherhood, Fariba Vafi gives readers a portrait of one woman's struggle to adapt to the complexity of life in modern Iran. The narrator, a housewife and young mother living in a low-income neighborhood in Tehran, dwells upon her husband Amir's desire to immigrate to Canada. His peripatetic lifestyle underscores her own sense of inertia. When he finally slips away, the young woman is forced to raise the children alone and care for her ailing mother. Vafi's brilliant minimalist style showcases the narrator's reticence and passivity. Brief chapters and spare prose provide the ideal architecture for the character's densely packed unexpressed emotions to unfold on the page. Haunted by the childhood memory of her father's death in the basement of her house while her mother ignored his entreaties for help, the narrator believes she relinquished her responsibility and failed to challenge her mother. As a single parent and head of household, she must confront her paralyzing guilt and establish her independence.

Vafi's characters are emblematic of many women in Iran, caught between tradition and modernity. Demystifying contemporary Iran by taking readers beyond the stereotypes and into the lives of individuals, Vafi is one of the most important voices in Iranian literature. My Bird heralds her eagerly anticipated introduction to an English-speaking audience.

Review Quotes

My Bird is a fine novel of urban and domestic dissatisfaction, a well-turned account of modern anomie that is particularly appealing because its protagonist is an everyday woman, and not some bored intellectual.-- "Complete Review"

Vafi's minimalist prose presents an innovative turn in the development of the Persian novel. Her style invites the reader to delve into the psychic anguish outlined in sharp images and quick exchanges.

-- "Nasrin Rahimieh, translator of The Virgin of Solitude"

Through My Bird, Vafi is able to bring the reader to a world that is often cut off, misunderstood, and stereotyped to reveal a rich vibrant society of individuals, personalities, and dreams.-- "Multicultural Review"

About the Author

Fariba Vafi is one of the most acclaimed and best-selling contemporary Iranian writers. She is the author of numerous novels and short story collections including Royaye Tabat and Razi dar Kucheha.

Mahnaz Kousha is professor of sociology at Macalester College. She is the author of Voices from Iran: The Changing Lives of Iranian Women, published by Syracuse University Press.

Nasrin Jewell is professor of economics at the College of St. Catherine. A Fulbright scholar, she has authored numerous articles in the areas of Middle East studies and women's studies.