A Book Review: To Keep the Sun Alive by Rabeah Ghaffari

Updated: 8 July 2019

As much as I love Iran and all things related, I admit that I’m a bit choosy when it comes to reading material. I don’t exactly judge a book by its cover, but it only takes a page or two for me to understand where the author stands. And if the first couple of pages of To Keep the Sun Alive told me anything, it was that it was written with depth, intelligence, grace, and sensitivity. And the cherry on top? It was set in Naishapur. So why did I love it and why was I so excited about the Naishapur part? I’m telling you all about it in my review of To Keep the Sun Alive by Rabeah Ghaffari, your next must-read on Iran.

A synopsis of To Keep the Sun Alive

To Keep the Sun Alive * is a debut novel by Rabeah Ghaffari and tells a whirlwind family saga set in the northeastern town of Naishapur in 1979, just on the cusp of the Iranian Revolution. You can practically smell the fried onions and turmeric wafting out from behind the adobe walls of the Mirdamad orchard, where Bibi-Khanoom and her husband, a retired judge, host grand Persian lunches for their relatives. Surly niece Ghamar has a rocky marriage with her husband, Mohammad, while their rebellious daughter, Nasreen, aspires to a career on stage. A widowed father identifies more with a European way of life while his two sons take vastly different paths: one, an active university student determined to marry the woman he loves and play a pivotal role in his country’s future; the other, succumbing to opium addiction. Meanwhile, childhood animosities flare in the form of heated political discussion between the intellectual judge and his cleric brother. All of this amid a country with growing political unrest and ultimately culminating in a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence when the ancient Zoroastrian fire-jumping festival of Chaharshanbe Suri and the Islamic mourning ceremony of Ashura both coincide with a celestial solar eclipse.

Iranian culture and history

Besides being an almost poetically written story in which you find yourself invested in the characters, what I loved most about this book was the way that the author skillfully yet subtly mentions the details of Iranian culture. In addition to being just a really good story, I personally believe it’s these cultural aspects that will captivate readers new to or interested in Iranian culture and deeply resonate with hyphenated Iranians. From sneaking a loghmeh before the main meal (which anyone with an Iranian mother can relate to) to his and hers door knockers to the knit exfoliation leaf, it’s all there. I found myself smiling at Bibi-Khanoom’s hilarious theories on tadig and the men’s “stench of marse” trash talk during backgammon (a line my dad and I also throw at each other when we play). In the end, all of these cultural intricacies are woven together like a fine Persian rug.

Some of my favorite bits, though, were those that began, “It’s a true story. It happened in this very town…,” after which we’d plunge into an unknown backstory of local history. And it’s one of these delightful tales that will answer your burning question (well, my burning question, at least)-  why do Iranians dip their sugar cube in tea before placing it in their mouth? Wondering if it was purely for entertainment’s sake or if it actually had some historical accuracy, I decided to research further and was fascinated to find out that it does, in fact, lie in historical truth, as does another one of these stories, according to an interview with Ghaffari. Just another detail of Iranian culture and history that she brilliantly ties into her story.

A personal connection

On a personal note, this book was special for me because it’s based in Naishapur (or Neyshabur or Nishapur). The city of the mystical poets Khayyam and Attar also happens to be my mom’s hometown and the place that nearly all my best childhood memories stem from seeing as I spent 2 months there every summer as a kid (and still visit every year). Mentions of Old Naishapur being ravaged and reduced to dust by Genghis Khan and his Mongolian army were all too familiar for me. Like the characters, I also used to gaze out at these barren hills on the horizon, trying to mentally reconstruct the thriving metropolis and capital that was Neyshabur centuries earlier, a far cry from its present-day self.

Final thoughts

It’s hard to believe that this is a debut novel from Rabeah Ghaffari. I, for one, look forward to what she has in store for us in the future. Make To Keep the Sun Alive one of your first reads of 2019. You won’t regret it.

Share it on Pinterest

* Disclosure: I did not receive compensation for this post. An advance reading copy of To Keep the Sun Alive was gifted to me by PR for review purposes. If you click on one of the links to purchase the book on Amazon, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for reading and supporting My Persian Corner.