Touba and the Meaning of Night (Women Writing the Middle East)

An Iranian woman forges her own path through life in this stylishly original contribution to modern feminist literature ( Publishers Weekly ). After her fathers death, fourteen-year-old Touba takes her familys financial security into her own hands by proposing to a fifty-two-year-old relative. But, intimidated by her outspoken nature, Toubas husband soon divorces her. When she marries again, it is to a prince with whom she experiences tenderness and physical passion and bears four childrenbut their relationship sours when he proves unfaithful. Touba is granted a divorce, and as her unconventional life continues, she becomes the matriarch of an ever-changing household of family members and refugees . . . Hailed as one of the unsurpassed masterpieces of modern Persian literature (Iranian.com), Touba and the Meaning of Night explores the ongoing tensions between rationalism and mysticism, tradition and modernity, male dominance and female willall from a distinctly Iranian viewpoint. Defying both Western stereotypes of Iranian women and expectations of literary form, this beautiful novel reflects the unique voice of its author as well as an important tradition in Persian womens writing. Born in Iran in 1946, Shahrnush Parsipur began her career as a fiction writer and producer at Iranian National Television and Radio. She was imprisoned for nearly five years by the Islamist government without being formally charged. Shortly after her release, she published Women Without Men and was arrested and jailed again, this time for her frank and defiant portrayal of women's sexuality. While still banned in Iran, the novel became an underground bestseller there, and has been translated into many languages around the world. She now lives in exile in Northern California. From a distinctly Iranian perspective, *Touba and the Meaning of Night* reveals ongoing tension between rationalism and mysticism, tradition and modernity, male and female, East and West. Speaking in an idiom unique to its author and indicative of a new tradition in Persian women's writing, the epic also defies Western stereotypes of Iranian women and Western expectations of Iranian literary form. Shahrnush Parsipur ; Translated From The Persian By Havva Houshmand And Kamran Talattof ; Translating Women's Experience By Kamran Talattof ; Afterword By Houra Yavari ; Biography By Persis M. Karim. First Published In Original Persian As Tuba Va Ma'na-yi Shab In 1987--t.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographical References. Skildringen af en iransk kvindes liv er samtidig historien om Iran fra engelsk koloni til den islamiske revolution