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Touba and the Meaning of Night

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Touba and the Meaning of Night
First edition (Persian)
AuthorShahrnush Parsipur
Original titleطوبی و معنای شب
TranslatorKamran Talattof
Havva Houshmand
LanguagePersian
Set inIran
PublisherIntishārāt-i Ispark (Iran), Feminist Press (US)
Publication date
1989
Publication placeIran
Published in English
2006
Media typePrint
Pages367 pp
ISBN978-1-5586-1519-9
OCLC62878277
891.5533
LC ClassPK6561.P247

Touba and the Meaning of Night (Persian: طوبی و معنای شب) is a novel written by the Iranian novelist, Shahrnush Parsipur and originally published in Iran in 1989. Written after the author had spent four years and seven months in prison, it is Parsipur's second novel and is a fictional account of a woman, Touba, living through the rapidly changing political environment of 20th century Iran. Like other works of Shahrnush Parsipur, Touba and the Meaning of Night is considered by most to be a feminist work. Also, like Parsipur's other work, Touba and the Meaning of Night remains banned in Iran.[1]

Plot summary

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Spanning eighty years, the novel follows the life of Touba, a young woman educated by her father in a time when few women received education. After her father passes away, Touba proposes to and marries a 52-year-old man. Initiated in desperation, the marriage causes Touba to fall into depression and eventually ends in a divorce. Touba later remarries a Prince of the Qajar dynasty. Though her second marriage starts happily, it also ends in divorce when the Prince takes a second wife. After the divorce, Touba is left to raise their daughter on the dwindling allowance afforded by her former husband's diminishing dynasty. To compensate, Touba weaves rugs.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Touba and the Meaning of Night". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 26, 2013.

Further reading

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