The Stationery Shop

The Stationery Shop is a historical fiction novel by Marjan Kamali. Published in 2019, the novel traces Roya Archer and Bahman Aslan’s love story, alternating between two timelines that begin in 1953 and 2013. Roya and Bahman first meet at the Stationery Shop in Tehran, Iran. They fall in love despite Bahman’s family’s disapproval and the intensifying political conflict between the king and the prime minister. The inexplicable nature of their connection challenges each of them as individuals and changes them forever. The novel is written from the third-person omniscient point of view and explores several themes, including The Persistent Power of Love, The Challenges of Navigating Political Upheaval and Social Expectations, and The Struggle to Shape Identity Across Cultures.

This guide refers to the 2020 Gallery Books paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of graphic violence, death, chronic illness, mental illness, suicidal ideation, and pregnancy loss and termination.

Plot Summary

The novel alternates between two timelines in protagonist Roya Archer’s life: 2013 New England and 1953 Tehran. For the sake of clarity, the following summary uses a linear timeline.

In 1953, Roya Archer is 17 years old and lives with her parents, Maman and Baba, and her younger sister, Zari, in Tehran, Iran. Roya’s favorite place in the city is Ali Fakhri’s local business, the Stationery Shop. While there one day, Roya meets a young, charming man named Bahman Aslan. Mr. Fakhri warns her that Bahman has political aspirations that could put her in danger, but Roya ignores him. She cares for Mr. Fakhri, but her interest in Bahman consumes her. Over the following weeks, she and Bahman start spending all their time together, eventually falling in love.

Roya can’t stop thinking about Bahman. Even when he becomes more engaged in the country’s political conflict between the king and the prime minister, Roya can’t let go of her love for him. Zari warns her that getting involved with Bahman is a bad idea. Instead of taking Zari’s thoughts to heart, however, Roya accepts Bahman’s marriage proposal. The passionate lovers plan to marry by the end of summer.

Roya is thrilled when her parents fall in love with Bahman, too, and give their blessings for them to marry. However, Bahman’s family is harder to convince. Mr. Aslan is passive, but Badri Aslan is volatile and vehemently opposes Bahman’s engagement to Roya. She instead wants him to marry Shahla, whose family is allegedly associated with the king, or Shah. This revelation hurts Roya, but she feels reassured when Bahman informs her that his mother has a mental illness. While she sympathizes with Badri and hopes that her condition will improve, Roya has no intention of ending her engagement with Bahman.

Shortly after the couple’s engagement party, Bahman disappears. Roya is distraught until Mr. Fakhri informs her that he can pass letters between the separated lovers. Bahman informs her that he’s in temporary hiding and can’t explain why; still, he loves her and plans to marry her. One day, Bahman writes to Roya telling her to meet him at Sepah Square. He’s coming out of hiding to elope with her. At the square on the appointed day, Roya encounters a volatile political demonstration. She stays as long as she can, desperately searching for Bahman. Then, Mr. Fakhri appears. He’s about to reveal something to her when he’s shot and killed.

Soon after, Badri contacts Roya to say that Bahman is marrying Shahla. Bahman mails Roya a note informing her they can’t marry and he’s fulfilling his parents’ wishes instead. Heartbroken, Roya applies to schools overseas and immigrates to the US to start a new life.

Over the following years, Roya studies science at a college in California. There, she meets an easygoing American man named Walter Archer. He’s nothing like Bahman, but Roya agrees to start seeing him. Their relationship stretches over several uneventful years. All the while, Roya tries to adjust to American culture. When Walter proposes, Roya accepts. They move to Boston together, where Walter plans to attend law school.

While Walter studies law, Roya tries to find a laboratory job but is unsuccessful and ultimately settles for a secretarial position. When she’s 27, she has her first child, Marigold. Marigold contracts the croup when she’s one year old and dies. Roya is heartbroken and struggles to recover. Roya has a second child at age 42; Kyle brings her joy, but she never forgets Marigold.

Years pass, and Roya never returns to Iran. She tries to survive her pain by walking and staying active. Still, she finds herself dreaming and thinking of Bahman.

When Roya is 77 years old, she walks into a stationery shop that reminds her of Mr. Fakhri’s shop back home. She learns that the owner is Bahman’s son, Omid. Omid informs her that Bahman is convalescing at the Duxton Senior Center. Overwhelmed by emotion, Roya makes arrangements to reunite with her lost love.

Roya and Bahman reunite. Roya realizes that she still loves him, but she abruptly ends their visit when Bahman insists that he waited for her at the square decades ago.

Bahman writes Roya a letter explaining what really happened in 1953. He recently discovered that his mother sabotaged their relationship. He wrote to Roya to meet him at Baharestan Square, but Badri had Mr. Fakhri alter the letter to say Sepah Square. Badri then told Roya that Bahman didn’t want to be with her, and informed Bahman that Roya didn’t want to be with him because of his mother’s illness. She involved Mr. Fakhri in her scheme because she was embittered toward him. The two had been lovers decades ago, but Mr. Fakhri abandoned Badri when she was pregnant to marry a woman of a higher class. Mr. Fakhri agreed to meddle with Roya and Bahman’s letters because he still loved Badri and was desperate to make amends for his past mistakes. Bahman informs Roya in the letter that, despite his hurt, he never stopped loving her.

Reading Bahman’s letter shocks Roya. She races to the Duxton Center, where Bahman has taken a turn for the worse. She lies in the bed with him, talking intimately and kissing him. They’re embracing when Bahman dies. After his funeral, a nurse from the Center gives Roya old letters she wrote to Bahman. She takes them to her room and reflects on her life. Despite all she has lost, she realizes how much she has been blessed with.