Song of a Captive Bird [electronic resource] : A Novel

Darznik, Jasmin2018

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Summary

“Remember the flight, for the bird is mortal.”—Forugh Farrokhzad All through her childhood in Tehran, Forugh is told that Iranian daughters should be quiet and modest. She is taught only to obey, but she always finds ways to rebel—gossiping with her sister among the fragrant roses of her mother’s walled garden, venturing to the forbidden rooftop to roughhouse with her three brothers, writing poems to impress her strict, disapproving father, and sneaking out to flirt with a teenage paramour over café glacé. It’s during the summer of 1950 that Forugh’s passion for poetry really takes flight—and that tradition seeks to clip her wings. Forced into a suffocating marriage, Forugh runs away and falls into an affair that fuels her desire to write and to achieve freedom and independence. Forugh’s poems are considered both scandalous and brilliant; she is heralded by some as a national treasure, vilified by others as a demon influenced by the West. She perseveres, finding love with a notorious filmmaker and living by her own rules—at enormous cost. But the power of her writing grows only stronger amid the upheaval of the Iranian revolution. Inspired by Forugh Farrokhzad’s verse, letters, films, and interviews—and including original translations of her poems—Jasmin Darznik has written a haunting novel, using the lens of fiction to capture the tenacity, spirit, and conflicting desires of a brave woman who represents the birth of feminism in Iran—and who continues to inspire generations of women around the world. Advance praise for Song of a Captive Bird“With rich empathy and gorgeous prose, Jasmin Darznik breathes life into one of Iran’s most iconic women, and the result is a beautiful novel that is as compelling as it is necessary.”—Bret Anthony Johnston, author of Remember Me Like This“These are times for stories that bring one culture nearer to another and that is exactly what Darznik has done, pulling close the hearts of girls and women and poets to tell Farrokhzad’s remarkable story.”—Laleh Khadivi, author of A Good Country“Farrokhzad is known as the Sylvia Plath of Iran. . . . Plath’s renown is universal; Darznik’s enthralling and illuminating novel will introduce Farrokhzad to a whole new world of readers.”—Booklist (starred review)