Review by NRoach -- The Buried Secrets of Peonies

NRoach · Post by **NRoach** » 26 Apr 2018, 09:53

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Buried Secrets of Peonies" by Mernegar Dorgoly.]

4 out of 4 stars

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The Buried Secrets of Peonies, by Mernegar Dorgoly, is a collection of short stories following the human cost of the 1979 Iranian Revolution in Iran, from mourning mothers and wives to daughters born to political prisoners awaiting execution. There is no overarching plot, just a series of emotional gut-punches designed to highlight the suffering and uncertainty felt by those who were caught up in the conflict and its aftermath.

The Buried Secrets of Peonies is sublime in every aspect. Dorgoly delivers all the emotions of living in such a turbulent time with none of the clichés or over-dramatised scenes of brutality she could easily have slipped into. Scenes revolve around individuals in small locations, such as their now empty homes or prison cells, and confront the reader directly with the emotions of missing loved ones or staring down one's own mortality.

Far and away my favourite is the final story, Peonies, but every single one is a work of art, each more poignant than the last. As I blazed through the book, short as it is, my want to read the next part, then the next, then the next, mounted until I finished the thing in only around 90 minutes. The singular break I took was to make food, and only then because my stomach's growling was starting to get distracting.

I struggle to imagine anyone not enjoying this book. Dorgoly has a penchant for waxing poetic, but does it both effortlessly and beautifully. Where many authors would struggle to represent the kind of existential grief the characters here go through, perhaps defaulting to images of wailing and sweeping mementos from the mantelpiece, she consistently finds the perfect picture or phrase to capture the feeling and builds it to a true crescendo.

Playing with this kind of subject matter is to play with the risk of wearing out your reader with one-note misery, but that's where The Buried Secrets of Peonies' length is its saving grace. A true novel, some 80,000 words, would be altogether too much, but as it stands, my hunger for more kept that boredom at bay. There are lighter moments speckled throughout, just to keep you breathing, but to read The Buried Secrets of Peonies is to be immersed in the terror and uncertainty of the Iranian Revolution, to feel its people's pain, and to finally see it through a lens other than the clinical one of journalism.

I give The Buried Secrets of Peonies a 4 out of 4, and recommend it to everybody. It's such a short read that, even if you hate it, you owe it to yourself.

******
The Buried Secrets of Peonies
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jvez · Post by **jvez** » 27 Apr 2018, 16:11

Great review. It's nice to find someone who shares the same opinion regarding this book. Peonies is also one of my favorite stories apart from Howl and Mirror. And I agree, if this was a full-length novel or a very long anthology, I probably would have stopped reading at a certain point. But thankfully the stories are rather concise.

Thanks for this review. And hopefully we both find another book as good as this here in OBC

Ashiyya Tariq · Post by **Ashiyya Tariq** » 04 May 2018, 12:13

It's very important event of Iran's history. The author beautifully depicts the emotions of victim families. I have also rated this book 4 out of 4 stars. You can chech it out.Thanks for your interesting review.

NL Hartje · Post by **NL Hartje** » 05 May 2018, 21:50

I love that you've singled out "uncertainty" as an overlying theme connecting each of the stories. I didn't note this to your level of verbalization but hearing you say it resonates my memories of the book and you've hit the nail precisely on the head.

I would love to hear which of the eight stories was your favorite.

I started a forum called "favorite story of the eight" where I would love to see your feedback! (just search those words in the forums and you should find it)

P Reefer · Post by **P Reefer** » 12 May 2018, 17:23

I think your review is spot on especially as pertains to her subtle yet intriguing writing style. This author takes a potentially morbid topic and makes it palatable for the reader. More than this she has been able to produce a page-turner narrative.