4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Dorgoly, The Buried Secrets of Peonies excavates the unceremonious burials of the 3,800 Iranian men and women by an Islamic regime in forty-five pages. The excavation is accomplished by the eight succinct and distinct narratives that sometimes whisper and sometimes scream aspects of the gruelling torture, the suffocating imprisonment, and the multiple anxieties experienced during the 1988 massacre. The author, also successfully alludes to the potential physical beauty of the landscape and people most notably in her opening and closing chapters, which speaks of the cultivation of petunias and peonies.
What I love about the novel, is that it is much more than a rehashing of the sordid deeds committed by a violent regime; it is also a tale of heart-breaking love, the love of siblings, husband and wives and parents for their children and vice versa. This book is an eye-opening historical journey that opens a vista to internationally notorious reports of internecine wars.
The straightforward narration and conversational tone of the writer is one that gently yet rapidly coils the reader to listen and witness the hidden stories. It is the story of the amazing and sacrificial love that may bring a tear to the readers’ eye if they manage to stay dried eye after reliving succinct yet unnerving journeys of torture, rape and execution. The narratives of Mohsen, Iraj, Ali, Farbode, Laleh, Ashan, Zeeba and other unnamed protagonists told in separate chapters are independent short narratives all containing the common threads of the loss and death-like existence due to loss of humanity from the oppressors.
The author delicately gives the reader a peak of the sordid world without leaving the reader feeling heavy and drained. This author accomplishes the incredible feat of rendering events of horror, murder, rape and disembodiment in a palpable fashion. The narratives embolden the reader with courage to listen and empathize and ultimately to live more consciously.
The book editing is professional; I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars as the author successfully creates credible characters with select and poignant descriptive language and literary devices to dig into the bloodstained earth and the re-plastered walls to give voice to the silenced. There is nothing that I disliked, not even the brevity of the chapters as the very silences of the raised voices tell its own stories. Ultimately, the unearthed secrets scream for transformation from systems of injustice that unleash terror on the lives of ordinary men and women.
Bookmermaid1
******
The Buried Secrets of Peonies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Bookmermaid's review? Post a comment saying so!
