The Persians

Author: Mahloudji, Sanam

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 29 January 2026 by HarperCollins Publishers (Fourth Estate Ltd) in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 384 pages
128 x 198 x 26 | 260g

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE 2025

‘Enormously entertaining’

THE TIMES

‘Unputdownable’

HARPER'S BAZAAR

‘Funny, sharp and insightful … a triumph’ LAUREN LAVERNE

‘Magnificent’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO

Five women. Three generations. A whole lot of family history.

The Valiat family are in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution with only the Islamic law-breaking Niaz for company. Meanwhile, in America, Shirin, Seema and Bita are wondering if their gleaming lives in ‘the land of plenty’ are all they had hoped for.

When an annual vacation goes wildly awry and Shirin is arrested, long-held Valiat family secrets begin to surface. As their lives are turned upside down, could revealing the truth save their family or might it break them apart, once and for all?

‘Funny, gutsy and confidently written … an outstanding debut’ DIANA EVANS, 2025 Women’s Prize Judge

‘Mesmerising’ MONICA ALI, author of Love Marriage

‘A joy of a debut’ DAVID MITCHELL, author of Utopia Avenue

‘Darkly funny, richly satisfying’ SARAH WINMAN, author of Still Life

‘As funny as it is moving’

GUARDIAN

‘Riotous … will have you hooked’

STYLIST

‘As exuberant as it is sharp’

iNEWS

‘A sweeping and irreverent tale’

BBC

‘Gloriously engrossing’ TASH AW, author of The South

‘Exuberant, comic, perceptive’ AMINA CAIN, author of Indelicacy

‘A very brilliant, very special book’ JESSICA STANLEY, author of Consider Yourself Kissed

‘An unforgettable read’ JOSIE FERGUSON, author of The Silence In Between