Mistress of the Persian Boarding House

De: Marina Nemat

A stirring, intimate work of historical fiction inspired by the life of Marina’s paternal grandmother.

Born into the glitz and glamour of upper-class Russian society at the turn of the twentieth century, Zina is a young woman yearning for independence and a life she can call her own. When a class war breaks out and Russia falls to the Bolsheviks, she narrowly manages to escape with her husband and adopted daughter, but once they arrive in Tehran, tragedy strikes once again, and she finds herself alone and impoverished.

At a modest boarding house in Tehran, Zina meets women from Russia and Iran—outsiders like her, seeking refuge. They grow closer together, supporting each other through childbirth, illness, poverty, political unrest, and a pandemic. Amidst the turmoil, Zina’s path crosses with the ambitious Reza Khan, the man who would later modernize Iran as Shah from 1925 to 1941. Their relationship becomes a welcome escape and endures decades of hardship and loss, culminating in a heart-wrenching crescendo.

Told in alternating chapters between her time in Russia and later in Iran, Zina’s story is one of a woman who experienced unimaginable pain, and who fought back and carved a meaningful life for herself. Sweeping, tender, and unforgettable, Mistress of the Persian Boarding House is a tale of the unbreakable bond between women who choose each other as family.