In conjunction with Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist, the Book + Banisadr Book Club invites participants to immerse themselves into the complex, turbulent worlds of Banisadr’s works through the lens of contemporary fiction that mimic the artist’s practice in both chaos and composure.

The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali, is a poignant novel of love, loss, and fate set against the backdrop of 1950s Tehran, following a young couple whose lives are forever changed by political upheaval.

Through this one-of-a-kind pairing of literature and art, reexamine historical themes against the dreadful, real, and unreal stories we tell ourselves.  Each session will feature a specially paired wine and will be carefully facilitated to bridge the artworks in the exhibition to the relevant and resonant conversations shaping our society today.

Held in partnership with Book + Bottle.

Thu, May 7, 6 PM – 8 PM
$25 for Members
$35 for Not-Yet-Members
Ticket includes program and one glass of wine. Additional wine available for purchase.

TICKETS

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About Book + Bottle

Book + Bottle is a bottle shop, an independent bookstore, a coffee café, and a wine bar all rolled into one exquisite little package. They have the most passionate, friendly, and helpful team in town to help you choose a book or a bottle or to take care of you and your friends on your night off.

They’re an independent, woman-owned, values-driven, sustainably run, local-first business that believes little kindnesses can make our community—and the world—a better place.

About The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali

From the New York Times bestselling author of Together Tea and The Lion Women of Tehran, a poignant, “powerful” (The Wall Street Journal) and “affecting novel about first love” (Real Simple) that explores loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate.

Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.

Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?

See the next two Book + Banisadr Book Club Dates and Times:

• June 4, 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History
• July 2, 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Sound + Composition