Not ever,” and a chillingly believable death threat. In the three years following Eden’s brutal rape by her brother’s best friend, Kevin, she descends into anger, isolation, and promiscuity.Įden’s silence about the assault is cemented by both Kevin’s confident assurance that if she tells anyone, “No one will ever believe you. His elegant prose propels this historically resonant and culturally nuanced family drama.Ī stunning intergenerational coming-of-age story. Nazemian expertly bridges the past and the present, exploring racism, homophobia, and relations between the United States and Iran along the way. The Jafarzadeh men’s narratives alternate, intriguingly unveiling family secrets. Today was supposed to be the day-until Mother picked Bobby up from school and whisked him away for a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer screen test, his ticket to becoming a movie star and fulfilling her own disappointed dreams. In Los Angeles, 17-year-old Babak “Bobby” Jafarzadeh, Moud’s grandfather, desperately wants to tell Vicente, his Mexican American best friend, that he loves him. It’s there Saeed meets and starts to fall for beautiful Shirin, a fellow protester. He’s going to a student protest, a risky activity he conceals from his parents.

The perspective then shifts to that of 18-year-old Saeed Jafarzadeh in 1978, during the Iranian revolution. As they’re visiting a country where gay people are confronted with violence or worse, this trip is a source of conflict between Moud and Shane, his White boyfriend. He’ll be visiting Iran with his dad, Saeed, to spend time with Baba, his terminally ill grandfather. Seventeen-year-old Moud Jafarzadeh is removing all traces of gayness from his social media before he leaves Los Angeles for Tehran.

A textured novel that uncovers secrets spanning three generations of an Iranian family.

The Authentics by Abdi Nazemian