The Stationery Shop

From the award-nominated 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?

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336 pages

Average rating: 7.94

290 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anonymous
May 04, 2025
6/10 stars
The love story was a bit much at times but I did like the twists of relationships. I like reading about Roya and her sister. I also enjoyed Walter. A good break from the heavy books I've been reading.
Anonymous
Apr 02, 2025
10/10 stars
devastating. 5 stars.
Kellyo
Mar 19, 2025
7/10 stars
Nice story. Not everything has a happy ending but at least one ended with explanation.
Anitathapaj
Feb 05, 2025
A beautiful tale on youth, love, family and politics. I thoroughly enjoyed it
Anonymous
Jan 11, 2025
5/10 stars
In the “enhance your book club” section of this book, The Stationery Shop is compared to a Nicholas Sparks’s novel. It’s true that this is more a romance novel than an historical fiction novel which may be why I was a little disappointed.

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