A Tehran So Quiet and Other Stories
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of Alberta Press
Publishing:13th Aug '26
£19.99
This title is due to be published on 13th August, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
These twelve stories delve into familial tensions, interracial relationships, trauma, infidelity, misunderstandings, and sexual dalliances.
Focusing on the indelible effects of displacement on the Iranian diaspora’s psyche, Mehdi M. Kashani's debut collection presents narratives that, though often unresolved, remain faithful to the depth of the emotion they depict. The twelve stories in A Tehran So Quiet delve into familial tensions, interracial relationships, trauma, infidelity, misunderstandings, and sexual dalliances. Sisters on the outs who reunite to settle family matters. A girl leaves an unresolved relationship at home to join a man she married abroad. A father seeks connection with his young son in the aftermath of divorce. A woman grapples with the West’s indifference to Iran’s political turmoils. A man takes extreme measures to protect his wife’s honour. This collection will resonate deeply with readers, particularly those affected by immigration and diasporic experiences, and with anyone drawn to raw, multicultural explorations of human complexity.
“A Tehran So Quiet and Other Stories presents an admirable variety of themes in these tales that expose the misunderstandings between families as well as the gulfs between cultures and between different cities in a diasporic Iranian context.” Mark Anthony Jarman, University of New Brunswick
“A Tehran So Quiet and Other Stories brims with radiance and melody, showing the care, compassion, and acuity that Mehdi M. Kashani brings to crafting each delightful character and their pursuit of desire, intimacy, love, acceptance, healing, or autonomy in this debut short story collection. Stories about Iranian life and culture have never been told with such grace and complexity.” Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, author of there’s more
"A Tehran So Quiet should be required reading: solace for this loud, modern world. It’s hard not to fall in love with the flawed, troubled, and bumbling characters who are doing their best to belong to a new country, a new family, or a life that did not turn out the way they had hoped. Kashani is a writer to watch." Maria Kuznetsova, author of Something Unbelievable
"While Mehdi M. Kashani writes of characters whose diasporic worlds span borders and oceans, his deceptively simple stories attend to the small dramas of their real life: minor cruelties, poignant absurdities, bittersweet moments of connection. Kashani has a talent for ending his stories as if in midair; as a result, his collection seems to take flight." Rachel Lyon, author of Fruit of the Dead
"In Mehdi M. Kashani’s riveting short story collection A Tehran So Quiet, Iranian immigrants navigate difficult and confusing relationships.... a collection of unflinching stories about the ample risks and elusive rewards of starting over in a new land." Eileen Gonzalez, Foreword Reviews, July / August 2026
"...Kashani grounds his stories in cultural and historic specificity without necessarily leaning on identity as a primary undercurrent. His writing style is straightforward, and the lack of fuss makes these stories compulsively readable.... These stories feel lived in and complete, though not at all tidy. A refreshing collection." Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2026
ISBN: 9781772128772
Dimensions: 229mm x 133mm x 10mm
Weight: 250g
190 pages