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SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE 2025

‘Enormously entertaining’
THE TIMES

‘Unputdownable’
HARPER’S BAZAAR

‘Funny, sharp and insightful … a triumph’ LAUREN LAVERNE

‘Magnificent’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO

Five women. Three generations. A mountain of family history.

The Valiat family are in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution with only the Islamic law-breaking Niaz for company. Meanwhile, in America, Shirin, Seema and Bita are wondering if their gleaming lives in ‘the land of plenty’ are all they had hoped for.

When an annual vacation goes wildly awry and Shirin is arrested, long-held Valiat family secrets begin to surface. As their lives are turned upside down, could revealing the truth save their family or might it break them apart, once and for all?

‘Funny, gutsy and confidently written … an outstanding debut’ DIANA EVANS, 2025 Women’s Prize Judge

‘Mesmerising’ MONICA ALI, author of Love Marriage

‘A joy of a debut’ DAVID MITCHELL, author of Utopia Avenue

‘Darkly funny, richly satisfying’ SARAH WINMAN, author of Still Life

‘As funny as it is moving’
GUARDIAN

‘Riotous … will have you hooked’
STYLIST

‘As exuberant as it is sharp’
iNEWS

‘A sweeping and irreverent tale’
BBC

‘Gloriously engrossing’ TASH AW, author of The South

‘Exuberant, comic, perceptive’ AMINA CAIN, author of Indelicacy

‘A very brilliant, very special book’ JESSICA STANLEY, author of Consider Yourself Kissed

‘An unforgettable read’ JOSIE FERGUSON, author of The Silence In Between

Publisher Review

‘A wonderful multi-generational family drama with characters you really care about. I’m still thinking about them now. I enjoyed it enormously’ Marian Keyes, author of My Favourite Mistake

‘An ambitious, glorious feat. Five women’s voices become one irresistible whole in this darkly funny, richly satisfying, wonderful debut’ Sarah Winman, author of Still Life

‘At once funny and profound, sprawling and personal, The Persians questions history’s grip on our lives-is it possible to free ourselves from the past, and do we even want to? A gloriously engrossing debut’ Tash Aw, author of We, The Survivors

‘An epic of intricate and beautiful proportion, The Persians is exuberant, comic and perceptive’ Amina Cain, author of Indelicacy

‘A witty and deeply absorbing saga of a family whose fate is intertwined with modern Iran’s … These five fierce, passionate, wounded women are at once tragic and hilarious, each voice meticulously crafted and singularly true’ Dina Nayeri, author of Who Gets Believed?

‘Filled with heartbreak, humour, and so much love … Mahloudji takes us on a journey to reshape our understanding of power, heritage, and ancestry – and brings a rare wisdom to the chaos of family’ Vanessa Chan, author of the international bestseller, The Storm We Made

‘Glitzy, gutsy and deliciously dark, a romp with serious things to say about misogyny, generational trauma and losing your home’ Samantha Ellis, author of Take Courage

‘An irresistible novel about a singular, yet wholly recognizable, family. I fell in love with the women in the Valiat family: by turns feisty and foolish, wise and secretive, and full of so much love and longing it took my breath away’ Edan Lepucki, author of California

‘Half outrageous, compulsive, shameless; half tender, loving and funny: Sanam Mahloudji’s The Persians is a very brilliant, very special book’ Jessica Stanley, author of A Great Hope