The Lion Women of Tehran

This was described to me as The Kite Runner meets My Brilliant Friend, which instantly grabbed my attention. The book opens in 1950s Iran, where seven-year old Ellie has lost her father. She and her mother are forced to move out of a palace and into a tiny home downtown. But when Ellie meets Homa, she finds a best friend. The two girls play together, learn to cook, and wander the Great Bazaar with dreams of becoming “lion women.” When Ellie’s circumstances change in high school, she finds herself rich and popular. Just as her memories of Homa begin to fade, the girl reappears in her life. The girls become as close as ever, as Ellie meets her future husband and Homa organizes for the communist party. When Ellie accidentally commits an egregious betrayal, the young women’s friendship will never be the same. They go on to lead separate lives, but later, in the eighties, Homa finds herself having to ask a huge favor of Ellie. I don’t want to say anything more about the plot so not to give you spoilers, but this was unputdownable for me. I absolutely loved it. It’s a beautiful friendship story but it’s also about feminism, political activism, and wealth.