Longlisted for the Women’s Prize 2025

“Sanam Mahloudji’s The Persians is exuberant, whip-smart, infused with melancholy, tragicomic, huge-hearted and sharp-toothed – like the proud Valiat sisters, aunts, mothers and nieces who populate its pages.  Seventy years of Iranian and diaspora history are the backdrop to this swirling portrait of an emigre family, glinting with read-out-loud sentences.  A joy of a debut novel by the real deal.” —David Mitchell

A darkly funny, life-affirming debut novel following five women from a once illustrious Iranian family as they grapple with revolutions personal and political.

Meet the Valiat family. In Iran, they were somebodies. In America, they’re nobodies.

A most anticipated novel of 2025 in Stylist, BBC, iNews, Goodreads, Electric Literature and Publishers Weekly.

“Mahloudji writes with a wisdom and confidence rarely seen in a debut, and her sharp observations are humorous and poignant…[T]his is more than a tale of Middle East meets west. Mahloudji is exploring where identity comes from… Multigenerational stories of family anguish and upheaval remain as popular as ever, from Abraham Verghese’s beautiful The Covenant of Water, to the quiet excellence of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, and Elif Shafak’s stunning exploration of generational trauma, The Island of Missing Trees. THE PERSIANS earns a place alongside these heavyweights. It is as funny as it is moving, as perceptive as it is pithy.” —The Guardian

“As exuberant as it is sharp” —iNEWS

“A sweeping and irreverent tale” —BBC

“Ebullient…Mahloudji keeps the reader turning the pages…a memorable family saga.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“The word-of-mouth breakout … A funny, unexpected and riotous read, we guarantee The Persians will have you hooked from the first action-filled chapter.” —STYLIST

“A big and bubbly American novel that sets out to complicate simplistic narratives about migration while keeping a twinkle in its eye.” —Anthony Cummins for DAILY MAIL (“The Best Literary Fiction Out Now”)

“A mesmerising debut that reminds us that our past travels with us, and that our actions and inactions reverberate down the generations. Gorgeously written, with a sharp ear for dialogue, a flair for the comic and characters that dance off the page and into your heart.” —Monica Ali, author of Love Marriage

“The Persians is 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

“An epic of intricate and beautiful proportion, The Persians is exuberant, comic, and perceptive. I fell in love with the women of the Valiat family and won’t soon forget them.” —Amina Cain, author of Indelicacy

“Filled with heartbreak, humor, and so much love, The Persians is a sharp exploration of the concerns of a wealthy Iranian family. Sanam 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 Storm We Made

“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 Rachel’s Holiday

“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

“A witty and deeply absorbing saga of a family whose fate is intertwined with modern Iran’s. I always knew epic Iranian families like the Valiats existed, I had just never met any. 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?

“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. Sanam Mahloudji writes with such humor and zip that the heartbreak sneaks up on you. This is a remarkable debut.” —Edan Lepucki, author of California

First there is Elizabeth, the regal matriarch with the famously large nose, who remained in Tehran despite the revolution. She lives alone but is sometimes visited by Niaz, her Islamic-law-breaking granddaughter, who takes her partying with a side of purpose, and yet manages to survive. Elizabeth’s daughters wound up in America: Shirin, a charismatic and flamboyantly high-flying event planner in Houston, who considers herself the family’s future; and Seema, a dreamy idealist turned housewife languishing in the chaparral-filled hills of Los Angeles. And then there’s the other granddaughter, Bita, a disillusioned law student in New York City trying to find deeper meaning by quietly giving away her belongings.

When an annual vacation in Aspen goes wildly awry and Shirin ends up in jail, the family’s upper class veneer is cracked open. Shirin embarks upon a quest to restore the family name to its former glory, but what does that mean in a country where the Valiats never mattered? Can they bring their old inheritance into a new tomorrow, and do they even want to?

By turns satirical and philosophical, spanning from 1940s Iran into a splintered 2000s, The Persians upends the reader’s expectations while exploring questions about love, family, money, and art. Wry and witty, brazen and absurd, The Persians is a deeply moving and profoundly searching reinvention of the American family saga.

More Advance Praise for Sanam Mahloudji and The Persians

“Half outrageous, compulsive, and shameless; half tender, loving, and funny: The Persians is a very brilliant, very special book.”
—Jessica Stanley, author of Consider Yourself Kissed

“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

“A captivating family saga, equally tragic and comic, The Persians is an unforgettable read with complex, chaotic characters you can’t help but love.” —Josie Ferguson, author of The Silence in Between

Photo by Amaal Said