Authors: Bahman Shahzadi and Jacqueline Buckman Shahzadi

Genre: memoir/non-fiction/family life

Publishers:Trafford Publishing: Victory

The following review was contributed by John Walsh & CLICK TO VIEW John Walsh's Reviews

At the end of the 1960s, a young American woman met and fell in love with a Persian man while studying at University. They decide that their relationship is strong enough that they wish to marry and live together in the man’s home country. Achieving this goal, married life in Iran and bringing up children prior to the 1976 Revolution form the story in this book, which is based on the real-life correspondence between the couple and with the woman’s mother, interspersed with the authors’ own memories and with explanatory material. The result is an enjoyable and informative read.

Going to live in a different culture can be a strange and daunting experience and it is essential to retain a positive attitude and to associate with people who support rather than detract. Unfortunately for the young lovers in this book, there is negativity and resentment all around them, especially for the idea of a multicultural marriage. Bahman Shahzadi’s family are Zoroastrians and his mother who, to an outsider, appears to be a rare old battleaxe, is implacable in her hostility to the idea of marriage to Jacqueline, the Christian American. Zoroastrians follow the teaching of the Prophet Zarathustra, who lived in Persia some time between 1500BCE and 600BCE and who preached three virtues, good thoughts, good words and good deeds. Eventually, of course, true love finds a way and the rest of the book is mostly a sunny tale of family happenings. Although there are some suggestions of the turbulent political background in the last days of the Shah and the onset of the Cultural Revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power, the two Shahzadis try to remain apolitical and eventually migrate to the USA when the inevitable happens.

It would have been interesting to know what process was followed within the family before the idea of converting the many letters written between the Professor and his Goldoon (golden ornament) into a book. The small travails and miscommunications between family members reveal frailties of character that take some courage to reveal, as do the complete lack of knowledge and prejudice of members of both families towards the other half. This is an interesting and enjoyable family history and will be of particular use to those thinking about multicultural relationships.

John Walsh, Shinawatra International University, December 2004