Afsaneh, A Novel from Iran

One evening, thirty year old Afsaneh Sarboland, dressed only in a thin orange dress, flees her husband and home and attempts to create a new life. In the story, Afsaneh, a single writer, struggles to carve a space for herself in the chaotic society that has been ravaged by the scars of war. Childhood tragedies, the devastation of war, and an abusive husband have combined to drive her to madness. Tainted by the shame of being alone in that night that she cannot remember, she begins to unravel, mixing the present with memories of the past. Afsaneh is based on the author's life as a nurse on the graveyard shift in the early eighties and her experiences on the front during the Iran-Iraq war. Magical realism and the bitter realities of contemporary Iran are intertwined. Ravanipur pushes the boundaries of temporal space, disrupting the notion of traditional textual layouts.