Genres
Collection
Publication
Algonquin Books (2017), 276 pages
Description
"When Noor returns to her native Iran for the first time in thirty years, with her very American daughter, Lily, so much about her homeland is different. But Café Leila--the restaurant Noor's family has run for three generations--hasn't changed. A neighborhood café in Tehran is at the center of this powerful and transporting story of love, family, friendship, and homecoming told against the backdrop of Iran's rich, yet tragic, history"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member cburnett5
4.5 stars
WOW is the best word I can use to describe The Last Days of Café Leila. I absolutely loved the book all the way up until the end. The ending made me very sad and while I am not sure how it could have ended differently, I wish it had. I cannot say anymore without spoiling it so I will
My emotions ran the full gamut while reading this book: intense joy, intense sadness, horror, embarrassment, disbelief, and fascination. When I began reading, I quickly realized how little I knew about Iran, both present day and the 20th century events that led up to present day. My brief knowledge covered the Iran hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq conflicts, and the Iran revolution in 1979. While I knew Iran was ruled by a conservative Islamic government, I had no idea how conservative and restrictive the government actually is. Bijan effectively conveys what life is like for those still living there (many have sent their children abroad and often emigrated themselves) and the great loss of freedom and culture that is experienced for those remaining. I truly cannot imagine living under those conditions especially as a woman but even as a man with music, dancing, and access to other cultures banned by the Islamic Republic. Moreover, Bijan portrays the sadness felt by those who lived in Iran prior to the revolution and truly mourn how much was lost when the Islamic Republic came into power. Living in the United States, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that many do not live with the freedoms we take for granted. I felt this sentiment time and time again while I was reading this book.
Donia Bijan’s writing is magical and beautifully lyrical. I was transported to Tehran and particularly Café Leila, frequently feeling like I could visualize the café and its environs along with the Persian meals and foliage. I loved learning about Persian food and customs and the manner in which residents did their best to adhere to and keep alive traditions that have been banned for so many years. Bijan’s characters are lovingly crafted. Zod is one of the greatest characters I have encountered in fiction in a long while. He will stay with me for quite a long time and hopefully I absorbed some of his parenting style.
I am so thankful that I read this book and wish it could be required reading for everyone at this time in the United States when tolerance of others and their cultures is sometimes sadly lacking. Knowledge leads to understanding and empathy (which is exactly why these conservative regimes ban so many things). I cannot wait to read Donia Bijan’s next novel and am so glad I read this one. Make sure you have tissues nearby – certain sections are nothing short of heartbreaking. Thanks to Algonquin and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
WOW is the best word I can use to describe The Last Days of Café Leila. I absolutely loved the book all the way up until the end. The ending made me very sad and while I am not sure how it could have ended differently, I wish it had. I cannot say anymore without spoiling it so I will
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leave it at that. The rest of the book is absolutely perfect.My emotions ran the full gamut while reading this book: intense joy, intense sadness, horror, embarrassment, disbelief, and fascination. When I began reading, I quickly realized how little I knew about Iran, both present day and the 20th century events that led up to present day. My brief knowledge covered the Iran hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq conflicts, and the Iran revolution in 1979. While I knew Iran was ruled by a conservative Islamic government, I had no idea how conservative and restrictive the government actually is. Bijan effectively conveys what life is like for those still living there (many have sent their children abroad and often emigrated themselves) and the great loss of freedom and culture that is experienced for those remaining. I truly cannot imagine living under those conditions especially as a woman but even as a man with music, dancing, and access to other cultures banned by the Islamic Republic. Moreover, Bijan portrays the sadness felt by those who lived in Iran prior to the revolution and truly mourn how much was lost when the Islamic Republic came into power. Living in the United States, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that many do not live with the freedoms we take for granted. I felt this sentiment time and time again while I was reading this book.
Donia Bijan’s writing is magical and beautifully lyrical. I was transported to Tehran and particularly Café Leila, frequently feeling like I could visualize the café and its environs along with the Persian meals and foliage. I loved learning about Persian food and customs and the manner in which residents did their best to adhere to and keep alive traditions that have been banned for so many years. Bijan’s characters are lovingly crafted. Zod is one of the greatest characters I have encountered in fiction in a long while. He will stay with me for quite a long time and hopefully I absorbed some of his parenting style.
I am so thankful that I read this book and wish it could be required reading for everyone at this time in the United States when tolerance of others and their cultures is sometimes sadly lacking. Knowledge leads to understanding and empathy (which is exactly why these conservative regimes ban so many things). I cannot wait to read Donia Bijan’s next novel and am so glad I read this one. Make sure you have tissues nearby – certain sections are nothing short of heartbreaking. Thanks to Algonquin and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member janerawoof
Heartwarming narrative about three generations of an Iranian family, which since the 1930s has opened and run Café Leila, which has become a landmark on that side of Tehran. A story set in present-day is that of Noor, whose father has sent her to America as a teenager with her brother when the
Such mouth-watering descriptions of Persian cuisine fascinated me. I wish, like "Like Water for Chocolate", to which although set in a different time and place, I compared this story, the author had included some of the simpler Persian recipes at the back. Not only a gastronome's delight, any local color of Iran and Iranian family life was inspired.
Highly recommended.
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Revolution and subsequent ultra-Islamism exploded in the country. There are flashbacks of family history. Noor is now separated from her husband and at the behest of her father, Zod, returns with a sullen, sulky adolescent daughter, Lily, to visit her father. He now runs the café with the help of relatives, also staff that have been there from the beginning. He is very ill with cancer and wants to see her before he dies. We see life in post-Revolution Iran. An act of horrific violence brings something good from it for Lily. This spreads to the whole family. After Zod's death, the day comes when Noor and Lily are to return to the States.... The ending disappointed, but I do see the logic.Such mouth-watering descriptions of Persian cuisine fascinated me. I wish, like "Like Water for Chocolate", to which although set in a different time and place, I compared this story, the author had included some of the simpler Persian recipes at the back. Not only a gastronome's delight, any local color of Iran and Iranian family life was inspired.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Oregonreader
The most captivating character in this novel is Cafe Leila. Set in Tehran, it has been a neighborhood gathering place for good food and entertainment for decades. The author does an amazing job of describing the culture and especially the food there. I was ready to go hunting for an Iranian
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restaurant. The story begins with Noor, recently divorced, leaving San Francisco and coming home with her very reluctant teenage daughter. The story then jumps back and forth in time, telling the story of the Yadegars, her grandparents who started the cafe, her parents who inherited it and the stories of each of the present day family. The author paints the cafe as a refuge from life's stresses but eventually the revolution does touch it. I was surprised by how little thought Noor gave to the danger she had brought her daughter into, with women being routinely accosted and beaten in the street for supposedly immoral behavior. My biggest complaint was how repetitive the writing is. She repeats the same descriptions, especially those involving food preparation and the tensions and relationships among the family. But I did get caught up in the family story. Even though there is resolution among the family at the end, there is no real reason for the reader to believe the changes are permanent since the characters don't seem fundamentally changed. I would definitely recommend the book for her descriptions of the family culture there and especially the food. Show Less
LibraryThing member jtsolakos
This is a lovely story about food, family and country. The images of a country lost were stunning. The food will make you want to find the nearest Persian restaurant, and the family relations are worldwide. I did not understand the main character’s action at the conclusion of this book and worry
Thank you to Librarything.com for a copy of this delightful book.
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that I missed something. Simply put, highly recommended and make your own conclusion about the main character’s decisions. Thank you to Librarything.com for a copy of this delightful book.
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LibraryThing member seeword
When Noor was eighteen her father sent her and her brother out of Iran to the United States because he felt they weren't safe in the new Islamic Republic. Thirty years later Noor, along with her reluctant teenage daughter Lily, returns to Tehran for a visit. Noor's marriage has fallen apart and
In a sense it's a coming of age story for both Noor and Lily. Both make potentially disastrous decisions. At times Noor seems immature but she really doesn't seem to belong anywhere. The novels leaves us with that old question: Can you go home again?
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when she arrives at her childhood home, she finds her father is ill. As the story moves on, Noor finds out things about her family's past and tries to cope with the changes in her homeland and her rebellious daughter. It's a difficult story, fairly well written but just a tad simplistic.In a sense it's a coming of age story for both Noor and Lily. Both make potentially disastrous decisions. At times Noor seems immature but she really doesn't seem to belong anywhere. The novels leaves us with that old question: Can you go home again?
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LibraryThing member PiperUp
A bittersweet heartwarming story of three generations of an Iranian family that owns what becomes a landmark cafe in Tehran. It's a complex and beautifully written inter-generational story in post revolutionary Iran containing vivid & detailed character flashbacks.
LibraryThing member leopolds
Noor’s life has hit a speedbump. She works in hospital as a nurse while raising her teenage daughter, Lily. Years of marriage are in question after becoming aware of her husband's infidelities. Noor decides to take some time to evaluate her life by taking her daughter to Tehran to visit her
Noor’s dad runs “Cafe Leila” which has been the family business for years. It continues to serve as a social gathering place for the neighborhood. Reunited with her father, Noor finds that that his health is failing. She begins to connect with him and develops roots to her country. She finds Iran to be a much different place from her childhood memories.
This is the story of three generations tied to Iran through changing times. It is a wonderful story about love, loss, sacrifice, and the human spirit. I look forward to Donia Bijan’s next novel.
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father. She has not seen her dad or Iran since she left for California at eighteen. Noor’s dad runs “Cafe Leila” which has been the family business for years. It continues to serve as a social gathering place for the neighborhood. Reunited with her father, Noor finds that that his health is failing. She begins to connect with him and develops roots to her country. She finds Iran to be a much different place from her childhood memories.
This is the story of three generations tied to Iran through changing times. It is a wonderful story about love, loss, sacrifice, and the human spirit. I look forward to Donia Bijan’s next novel.
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LibraryThing member strandbooks
I enjoyed Cafe Leila, especially the relationships between the parents and children, which was made even more complex by the differences in culture (Iran vs the US). I wish I could go to Cafe Leila for a meal!
LibraryThing member LibraryStuntwoman
This mouth-watering novel will leave you with an appetite for more beautiful writing and for a large serving of Persian food. Reluctantly accompanied by her teenage daughter, newly divorced Noor returns to her father and his restaurant in Tehran to reevaluate her life after its sudden derailment. A
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story about relationships—to family, to homeland, and to both the past and future—The Last Days of Café Leila captures the nuances of the beautiful and the brutal. Show Less
LibraryThing member honkcronk
I received this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers... not such an early review .. sorry for the delay due to personal issues!
I enjoyed the book a great deal. The Cafe Leila is a cafe in Tehran, Iran where one of the main characters, Zod, is the owner and proprietor. The Cafe is central to the
Current events force themselves into the lives of people that had their own smaller and contented world. Zod and his wife, Pari created a good life for their family. Pari was a musician and travelled internationally. The change in Iran impacts the family and the story is very sad.
The story is also about the daughter, Noor, and her life in America and the falling apart of her marriage. She has migrated to America to go to college and never to return to Iran. At least this is the plan, until she returns with her teen daughter, Lily, to Cafe Leila and her father, Zod.
The book was well written and the story was interesting. I felt it was a bit of a struggle to pull the bits together into a whole story.... but have patience and you will understand. The family's story is complicated.
I am not sure about the two stories of secondary characters that was developed towards the end of the book. One was the story of Farah, the young woman that was beaten on the street. I did not feel her story was developed enough. Also the story of Karim, Lily's friend in the house but a servant. He was a little more developed as a character, but I felt there was more to say about him.
The end of the book seems sudden because of things left out of the story with the new characters. I wanted to know more about them.... maybe another story to come from this author?
I really liked the book and also enjoyed the bio of the author. I hope she was more time to write another book. But if she does not, maybe a visit to her restaurant in Palo Alto will be required!
I enjoyed the book a great deal. The Cafe Leila is a cafe in Tehran, Iran where one of the main characters, Zod, is the owner and proprietor. The Cafe is central to the
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story of a fractured family (due to migration and deaths) . It is a story set in Iran, but the family of Zod were immigrants to Iran, too and so, are not persian by birth.Current events force themselves into the lives of people that had their own smaller and contented world. Zod and his wife, Pari created a good life for their family. Pari was a musician and travelled internationally. The change in Iran impacts the family and the story is very sad.
The story is also about the daughter, Noor, and her life in America and the falling apart of her marriage. She has migrated to America to go to college and never to return to Iran. At least this is the plan, until she returns with her teen daughter, Lily, to Cafe Leila and her father, Zod.
The book was well written and the story was interesting. I felt it was a bit of a struggle to pull the bits together into a whole story.... but have patience and you will understand. The family's story is complicated.
I am not sure about the two stories of secondary characters that was developed towards the end of the book. One was the story of Farah, the young woman that was beaten on the street. I did not feel her story was developed enough. Also the story of Karim, Lily's friend in the house but a servant. He was a little more developed as a character, but I felt there was more to say about him.
The end of the book seems sudden because of things left out of the story with the new characters. I wanted to know more about them.... maybe another story to come from this author?
I really liked the book and also enjoyed the bio of the author. I hope she was more time to write another book. But if she does not, maybe a visit to her restaurant in Palo Alto will be required!
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LibraryThing member pennykaplan
Reeling from her divorce, Noor takes her 13'year old daughter back to Iran, the country she left when she was 17. She finds her father dying the the country suffering under the brutality of religious rule. Fascinating exploration of the culture and family. Noor is weak, but eventually find purpose
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ensuring that her family's traditions will endure. Show Less
LibraryThing member SiriJR
Donia Bijan has written an elegant and moving novel, giving a beautiful and delicate story a strong voice. This is a tale of homecoming, family, sacrifice, and purpose, and these themes are brought to life and made relatable and universal through strong characters, a deftly etched sense of place,
There were a few moments where individual characters seemed to have their POV in the narration which didn't quite work for me since it was abrupt and sporadic, but overall Bijan's writing is compelling and effective. I really enjoyed this and will be passing it on and recommending it to friends and family.
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and incredibly appetizing descriptions of food. (There should be an accompanying cookbook! Bijan's memoir apparently has many recipes...)There were a few moments where individual characters seemed to have their POV in the narration which didn't quite work for me since it was abrupt and sporadic, but overall Bijan's writing is compelling and effective. I really enjoyed this and will be passing it on and recommending it to friends and family.
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LibraryThing member clue
The Last Days of Café Leila by Donia Bijan takes place primarily in Tehran but begins in San Francisco. Noor works as a nurse and lives with her husband and teen daughter Lilly. When she can't deal with her husband's infidelities, and longing to see her father, Noor returns to Tehran taking an
Tehran is very different from Noor's childhood memories. She and her brother had been sent to the U.S. for safety after their mother was killed by Iranian police. Neither has returned for twenty years.
Noor finds her father the same respected and loved man she knew as a child, and Café Lelia, the café that has been run by her family for three generations, a welcoming refuge. But there is still turmoil, both within Noor, with her relationship with Lily, and in the city she has escaped to.
Bejan, a native Iranian and a Cordon Bleu trained chef writes very well, particularly when she is describing Iranian cooking and the pleasures of dining.
A bittersweet story wrapped around a splintered family, this was a good book to start the year with and I look forward to reading Bijan's only other book, a memoir.
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angry Lilly with her. Tehran is very different from Noor's childhood memories. She and her brother had been sent to the U.S. for safety after their mother was killed by Iranian police. Neither has returned for twenty years.
Noor finds her father the same respected and loved man she knew as a child, and Café Lelia, the café that has been run by her family for three generations, a welcoming refuge. But there is still turmoil, both within Noor, with her relationship with Lily, and in the city she has escaped to.
Bejan, a native Iranian and a Cordon Bleu trained chef writes very well, particularly when she is describing Iranian cooking and the pleasures of dining.
A bittersweet story wrapped around a splintered family, this was a good book to start the year with and I look forward to reading Bijan's only other book, a memoir.
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LibraryThing member KarenHerndon
Very well written sweet little book.
Would recommend it to friends and would read other books by this author based on my liking of this one.
Would recommend it to friends and would read other books by this author based on my liking of this one.
LibraryThing member 4leschats
When Noor catches her husband in an affair, she returns to her native Iran and the cafe that her father runs for consolation.
LibraryThing member GennaC
Thank you to Algonquin Books and LibraryThing Early Reviewers for providing me with an ARC of The Last Days of Cafe Leila.
"Cake baking is a bittersweet thing. There are so many reasons to be in the kitchen with a sieve and a cup of flour, and what one baker does, another cannot because it reminds
Following the dissolution of her marriage and feeling adrift, Noor returns to her native Tehran in search of direction with her difficult teenage daughter in tow. In Iran, Noor is confronted with an aging father and a homeland she scarcely recognizes, but for her family's cherished Cafe Leila, which has weathered many years of death, war, and heartache. So begins a journey for Noor and stubborn Lily as they are enveloped in a foreign culture and struggle for purchase in their changing lives. A stirring story of family, food, and coming home.
Bijan's voice is elegant, passionate, and soulful. I delighted in this narrative, at times joyous, at others tragic, as Noor and her daughter Lily experience both the richness and turbulence of a country in upheaval. Post revolutionary Iran was a poignant backdrop for this exquisite story and Bijan's truly stunning descriptions of Persian cuisine and its cultural weight were a pleasure to experience.
"Cake baking is a bittersweet thing. There are so many reasons to be in the kitchen with a sieve and a cup of flour, and what one baker does, another cannot because it reminds
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him of something or someone. Baking is always with good intentions and good cake can never be anything but that, a special treat, whether the eggs came from a backyard coop or a supermarket shelf, or perhaps there wasn't quite a cup of sugar but just enough. There's no best way to make a birthday cake, but tenacity helps, as does optimism."Following the dissolution of her marriage and feeling adrift, Noor returns to her native Tehran in search of direction with her difficult teenage daughter in tow. In Iran, Noor is confronted with an aging father and a homeland she scarcely recognizes, but for her family's cherished Cafe Leila, which has weathered many years of death, war, and heartache. So begins a journey for Noor and stubborn Lily as they are enveloped in a foreign culture and struggle for purchase in their changing lives. A stirring story of family, food, and coming home.
Bijan's voice is elegant, passionate, and soulful. I delighted in this narrative, at times joyous, at others tragic, as Noor and her daughter Lily experience both the richness and turbulence of a country in upheaval. Post revolutionary Iran was a poignant backdrop for this exquisite story and Bijan's truly stunning descriptions of Persian cuisine and its cultural weight were a pleasure to experience.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
fiction (Iranian-American mother and daughter visit grandfather in mom's childhood house in Tehran - includes instances of violence against women). Told in alternating points of view (grandfather, mother, grandmother, granddaughter) with a plentiful dose of drama and heart. #ownvoices
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Awards
The A.V. Club best books (2017)