Un Ciel de coquelicots

by Zohreh Ghahremani

Dans les années 1960, l'Iran du chah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi est
un pays politiquement divisé. Les failles sociales et politiques ne
peuvent plus être ignorées et la contestation gronde. C'est dans ce
contexte que va naître une belle amitié entre Roya et Shirine, deux lycéennes
que tout sépare. Roya, fille d'une famille de notables, envie l'indépendance
farouche de sa camarade. Mais Shirine garde ses secrets... Chacune de son
côté, et de manière différente, va chercher à comprendre le sens de ce qui se
passe autour d'elle et à définir son propre rôle dans les bouleversements en
cours. Tout au long du roman, elles seront amenées à prendre des décisions
qui peuvent à chaque moment entraîner leur perte.

Le climat menaçant de la crise qui précéda la révolution islamique pèse sur
l'existence des personnages de ce roman où contexte politique, cheminement
personnel et vie familiale sont inextricablement liés. Un récit poignant, plein
de rebondissements et d'émotion, où amitié, poésie, répression, sacrifice et
souffrance s'entremêlent. Sur la toile de fond d'une nation contrainte à rompre
avec son identité profonde, Un ciel de coquelicots parle de culture, d'histoire et
du pouvoir rédempteur de l'amitié et de l'amour.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Iran, Book Club, Middle East, Ebooks, Cultural

374 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2010

About the author

Dr. Zohreh (Zoe) Khazai Ghahremani is the author of SKY OF RED POPPIES, winner of KPBS’s One Book, One San Diego 2012. Her sophomore novel, THE MOON DAUGHTER, was named 2014's Best Published General Fiction by the San Diego Book Awards.

An immigrant, Zohreh draws heavily from her Iranian-American culture in her writing.

Visit her online at http://zoeghahremani.com

Reviews

[Zohreh Ghahremani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I did a pretty good job of it! :-)

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Like a picture slowly developing in the darkroom, the injustice around me became clearer with time. Forbidden thoughts grew and multiplied in my head. How many others had disappeared before her, and who would be next?"

This is my mom's book, and when I read it, I couldn't put it down. Honestly, my mom sort of keeps her writing to herself, yet with this book I was blown away with how lyrically it was written. I also felt like I learned so much about what happened to the citizens of Iran as political tides changed there mid-century. Also, I really love my mom.

Biased or not, this book is awesome.

[Lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am perhaps the worst critic this book could have, being Middle Eastern, an avid literary fiction reader, and a former publishing professional. That said, I had read the book and I just reread it again this week. 5 stars again.

It is page-turning, emotionally gripping, and extremely informative about a time and place we do not typically read about (Iran, 1960s onward). While I would not categorize it as historical fiction, it does that fabulous work of good fiction, incidentally educating you along the way when all you signed up for was to read beautiful prose.

I had cinematic reactions to various passages and developments, whether it was jaw-dropping, gasps, or getting choked up. As I read, I felt completely immersed in the social circles it describes and introduces. But why trust me? Trust KPBS - it was just selected for One Book, One San Diego 2012 and I have a feeling that's just a preview of what's to come for this novel.

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written story of a young Iranian school girl growing up during the Iranian revolution that overthrew the corrupt Shah and replaced it with a revolution that ultimately betrayed its promise of freedom. Driven by political events, the story does not really take a political stance, but shows how the time period impacted the lives of two young women, one wealthy and secular, the other poor and pious. It's a great story that should be read more widely.

[Jafar · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I listened to the author’s radio interview, she said that she wanted to write a book for her own children, and other second-generation Iranians who’ve never seen Iran, to share with them how life was in Iran before the revolution, and before political shenanigans colored everybody’s perception of the Iranian society. So I didn’t expect the book to turn out to be – if you don’t want to call it a political novel – a book where politics is the elephant in the room. Everyone knows to some degree by now that there was the Shah and his evil secret police, and that there was a revolution, and the revolution betrayed people’s hopes and dreams and installed a far worse regime. But surely there was more to Iran than the revolution and what led to it – and I thought that was what Ghahremani promised to tell us. The book mainly tells the story of the revolution, and that was the main disappointment for me personally. Ghahremani has left out a lot of other things that she could have recounted to retell a story that is all too painfully familiar. She just couldn’t shake it off. The revolution was the single most defining event in the lives of her generation, but for someone in the outside – the intended audience of the book – trying to peer into the fabric of the Iranian society and its culture 30 years later, it doesn’t deserve the prominence that it’s given here.

If you don’t mind reading a book where politics dictates its ups and downs and direction, that is, if you want to see how the general atmosphere was before the revolution and what led to it, this is a very good book. It’s told from the perspective of girl who, even though born to wealth and privilege, is very well conscious of the injustice around her. It doesn’t escape her that her classmate gets jailed and tortured and raped for her political activities, but her sister gets shipped to a college in England when she wants to be fashionable and dabble in politics. Roya’s character is very well done. She’s decent without being smug. She’s outraged by what she sees around her, without having any particular political agenda. She refuses to fall for any political grandstanding without being cynical. The story is written well and leaves you with having hope for the goodness of human nature in spite of all the atrocities around us. My most personally touching moment was the first time that The Little Black Fish was mentioned. I thought, oh my god, yes, mahi siahe-e kuchulu! I read that book. How could I have forgotten it?

I wonder how much of this book is autobiographical in the sense of being drawn from personal experiences. (Mashad and Chicago. I was expecting to read in the epilogue that Roya had moved to San Diego!) I wonder about the choice of telling the story from the eyes of a privileged girl growing up among the wealthy and the secular. Someone growing up among the poor and the pious would have told a different story. In the end, what we can tell is limited by what we have experienced.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't write reviews as often as I probably should, given how much I read. But every so often I really need to write a review, especially when I've gotten a book for free on my Kindle that I would gladly (in retrospect) have paid full, hard-cover price for. This is another such book.

My husband grew up in Iran in the same period as this book describes, and tells me similar stories of this time period. So the story was very familiar to me. But this angle, of two friends whose ways of coping, ways of experiencing the political changes in their country were so different, is a great backdrop for the politics. And the author has a beautiful way with words, inserting clips of lovely poetry throughout. It's a heartbreaking story, as so many other stories from this sort of lost generation of Iranians are. Thank you for writing it.

[Lynnette Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Ghahremani’s almost lyrical prose gently guides us through a story filled with sorrow and joy taking place in a strict society where a schoolgirl friendship blooms amid the changes of the people surrounding them, of shifting politics, the growing oppositionist activities and even land reforms.

Depiction of the strength of the culture, of family and the power of friendship is loud but unobtrusive in the telling of the story. This is a heartbreaking love story—love of the land, of freedom and of the people—a bittersweet novel that shouldn’t be missed.

Roya has been sheltered from the politics and strife by a well-to-do and loving father aware of the possible consequences of defying the Shah.

Shireen has seen the cruelties and changes coming about in her country and tries to show Roya what the future could bring.

Jenab is a literature teacher illuminating words and guiding their thoughts.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a moving story, but the writing style never really clicked with me. It felt awkward and I didn't feel I understood the characters very well. Maybe my Western viewpoint was an obstacle to really being drawn in. However, it was definitely eye-opening in terms of history and culture. I remember hearing about the Ayatollah on the news when I was growing up; this book covers the "prequel" to that time, when the last Shah was in power in Iran. The woman narrating the story grew up in a wealthy and traditional but not devout family. She has friends with varying levels of money, social status, and Muslim faith. So we get to see how different segments of the society viewed the Shah and the revolution that is brewing.

[Seema Yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a stunning novel that I was scared to finish because I didn’t want it to end — and this despite the gradually building tension and my desperate need to know what would happen to the young women. I first read Sky of Red Poppies in 2020 and am reading it again in 2025 as I work on my second novel. It’s masterfully plotted and I’m not at all surprised to learn that it was selected for San Diego’s citywide read. Highly recommend.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book...

[Stephanie Anze · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Maybe the hardened clay was not as ugly as I thought. Maybe what I resented was the color my father had painted me. The time had come to sand away some of that dreadful stain."

Roya comes from an affluent family in Iran. In literature class, at her all girls highschool, she sits next to Shireen. Due in part to the influence of their more modern teacher, Janeb, the girls begin to grow close and become good friends. As their friendship blossoms, the political atmosphere in Iran intensifies. With the secret police lurking in every corner, contrary thoughts and actions regarding the Shah must be kept in utmost secrecy. Its through Shireen that Roya first begins to grow aware of the unrest in her country but can their friendship survive the politcal turmoil?

This book had been on my TBR list for a while now. I do not recall how is it that I came to know of this book but I am glad to have come across it. Set in Iran, starting in the 1960's, the background of this novel is the control of the Shah and SAVAK (the Shah's secret police) over the population. The narrative opens with Roya arriving to school and seeing the infamous SAVAK cars parked in front of it. A girl is taken, never to be heard from again. Troubled by what Roya saw, she has to carry on normally for there is nothing much she can do. As Roya and Shireen grow closer, they learn that their backgrounds and thoughts are different yet they also find allies in each other. Just as the country goes through a transition, so does their friendship through the pass of time. I just love the way in which the plot developed and how the turmoil in the country reflected in their friendship and their families. With an atmosphere of peril and danger, the book was also poetic in its execution. A coming-of-age-book, a historical telling and a story about survival and friendship, this was a good read.

[Laura Spaulding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came away from this book with a new insight into the culture of the Iranian people. Zohreh Ghahremani has written a beautiful book with very well rounded characters. Nothing is black and white in her novel,just as in real life. Her incorporation of Persian poetry into the story just further shows the diversity of her homeland. Thank goodness she gave up dentistry fo follow her true passion, if she had not we would have all missed out on a very talented, insightful writer.

Ms. Ghahremani, or Zoe as she likes to be called, visited our book club today and is as good a speaker as she is a writer. She is a very inspiring woman, with a great positive life view. I came away very much interested in reading her newest book The Moon's Daughter and I am looking forward to her writing in the future. If you belong to a bookclub I highly recommend having her come visit it is quite a pleasure.

[julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tender and touching story is beautifully written. It clearly demonstrates the close and far reaching effects of political disturbance and how precious freedom is. It's very appropriate for the current events the world is experiencing.

Although there was much tragedy throughout the book, there was a certain sweetness. The author is very generous in sharing herself deeply through her writing style.

[Paulina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1960s Iran, this book follows two friends, from their high school days to adulthood. Their country is in turmoil since there is a movement towards a change in the regime. Shireen is pulled by the call of revolution while Roya feels safe in the bubble that her wealthy family has created. While we get the story from Roya's point of view, Shireen's story is well represented since Roya's world and ideals are shaken by Shireen's influence.

I loved Roya and Shireen, their friendship endured beyond situations that broke other friendships and families. Iran in the 1960s was not an easy place to navigate for anyone who did not agree with the laws that were in place, and which were enforced by SAVAK, the secret police. Suspicion of being involved with demonstrations against the current regime meant kidnapping, torture, even murder. In the novel, each character shows how vastly different each person's beliefs could be, from being a blind follower of the current monarchy to those who believed that imperialism had to be removed from the country completely. While we are seeing things from the perspective of a young girl with wealth and privilege, it really shows how easy it was for someone to turn away and ignore political movements that were happening right outside their door until someone close starts to open their eyes.

The importance of wealth, education, family, and friendship are all explored here. I was quite impressed at how easy the author made the reading experience. While lyrical and full of metaphors throughout, the writing is not over the top or full of unnecessary imagery. There were passages that were beautiful and packed a punch at the same time. One that will remain with me for a while is when Roya says "I wanted nothing to do with the times when I was soft clay."

I thoroughly enjoyed Ghahremani's writing and will definitely be looking for her other works. If you like historical fiction and would like to learn more about what it might have been like to live in Iran in the 1960s, I'd highly recommend this book. In an interview I saw, the author says that this book is about 70% inspired by real life events, which definitely felt true as I was reading it.

[Rachielle Sheffler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of the three selections for 2012 One Book, One San Diego, a literacy campaign sponsored by San Diego Public Library and the public radio station KPBS.

I read this book with a coworker of Persian descent. She and I read the book in a day. Her first comment to me was, "It is like I wrote the book, except that I wasn't rich." This book tells the story of friendship that crosses the barriers of religion and economic class in the time leading to the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

In the launching of the One Book, One San Diego campaign, I heard Zoe Gharemani speak about her desire to write this so that she could give her countrymen a voice. She also wanted her children to understand her life before she left Iran.

[Jill Bonham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book I would normally read. I came across it while looking through the Kindle lenders library and saw it was highly rated so I thought I'd read it. I really liked it because it showed to me that people are people no matter where they live, with ambitions, love of family, pains, sorrows and joys. As the story progressed it felt so real. It did not seam like a work of fiction. The characters were so alive and so well written that it seamed like an autobiography. It is a great read to open up understanding between cultures. I really loved it!

[Doreena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not sure where to start with this poignant story. This story rips you through a veritable rainbow of emotions. It is a coming of age story about two girls in Iran. One wealthy, one not so much. They share many emotions and beliefs. Ultimately, they ends up on two very different paths. Be ready with tissues when you read this one. Well done Ms. Ghahremani.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the juxtaposition of the naivete/complicity of two young girlfriends and an an entire country. If our book club chooses this book- I wonder if the author would like to join us for lunch discussion???

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book begins in Iran during the 1960’s when the country was ruled by the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi. It is a time of government upheavals and eventual takeover by fundamentalist Islamic religious leaders. I remember in the news when the Ayatollah Khomeini came into power as Iran’s Supreme Leader in the 1970’s.
It is a story about Roya, a young woman from a wealthy landowning family and her gradual awakening to the different classes and cultures around her. She befriends a classmate Shireen whose beliefs and motives are quite different from hers. Given our social codes, that wasn’t unusual. I treated most of my school friends as just that: Friends whom I saw at school. Most girls were allowed to socialize only with friends know to their families. I could visit Nelly any time, but Shireen?
Although I could never quite warm up to Roya (I’m not sure why), I found the setting of time and place interesting. I noticed a drastic change in the atmosphere of this calm village. The news of upcoming land reforms imposed by the Shah seemed to have made the farmers’ behavior toward the landlords less submissive. I didn’t know the details of the Shah’s “White Revolution” but understood it promised a better future for the workers and a reduction of the existing social gaps. As part of the plan, farm owners could maintain only one plantation and, as dictated by the Shah, any additional land they owned would be divided among the farm workers.
It was a good story about family and loyalty and friendship.

[Baljit · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I’ve read many stories set in Iran, this one differs in that it’s set during the reign of the Shah. It shows the class divide and differences in political ideology amongst the Iranian people of that era.
The story is based on the friendship of two girls and the challenges they faced during this time and the paths their lives take.

[BitterAndMurky · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There's a unique substance in each one of us," my favorite teacher finally began. "A raw matter known as the child, pure and impressionable, flexible enough to be molded. Like clay." His hands slid around an imaginary mound in the air. "Unfortunately, in the heat of the kiln we call life, that clay hardens and before we know it we've become the unchangeable adult." He went back to the window and stared out at the sky hanging there like a wet sheet. "If an adult is dissatisfied with the outcome, he can take on a variety of colors to disguise his true identity. But deep down, the hardened clay maintains its true form."

[Shalma · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s extremely difficult for me to rate a book about Iran and Persian people the way I would rate any other book. It’s very personal and special to read a book about your home and other people that once knew it as home. This book made me feel both deeply sad and deeply seen. It also taught me more about what Iranians older than me experienced in the 70s and 80s.

[Jen Richter · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book ever!!

[Susie, · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was slow but a good story.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A culturally rich story of a families time in Iran when the Shah was in charge and everyone lived in fear. This book contains some beautiful poetry as well!

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book very much. Getting a glimpse into another culture was wonderful. Isn't that why we read? The times are tragic. While not Iranian I do have friends who moved to the San Diego area, where I myself was born, after fleeing Iran during the Revolution. A wonderful family.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 really. Tales of friendship always get to me and this is no different. Elegantly written. Tragically beautiful story. I just wish i knew more about Iran and Persian poetry.
google here I come.

[Kristin]

The last book to break my heart this much was Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. But I shouldn't say "this much," since this one actually broke my heart more. That's not to say that it was at all depressing, though-- the author acheived that perfect balance of capturing utter sadness and pain without it being depressing or messing with your head space. This is the story of Iran in the decade leading up to the Revolution, which we don't usually seem to see. Most widely known Iranian literature (that's available in the U.S., at least) is about life under the post-1979 regime. Through those works, you get the sense that things weren't perfect under Reza Shah, but life wasn't NEARLY as bad as it would become after the Revolution. So in this one, we get to really see what was wrong with the Shah's way of doing things--SAVAK, namely--and how the tumult that is modern Iran really came to be at that pivotal point in history. I hope I'm understanding the maze of Iranian history right (this book actually was the final inspiration for me to try to find actual history texts on Iran).
But aside from politics, this was really a story of the heart. Of friendship, family, love, love of country, and loss. Loss of nearly all of those things, but in the end with at least one life preserved. It is ultimately the story of one life precariously preserved through the herculean efforts and sacrifices of others. The character of Pedar, our narrator's uncle, was almost singlehandedly what held the whole thing together-- he was a living, walking purpose, that purpose being to do whatever it took to preserve life and peace for his family, including putting his niece under house arrest and exiling her to America, even while a shitstorm of political hell swirled around everyone's lives, ever present like an evil wind. And he mostly succeeded. But Roya's great loss was in her best friend Shireen, who Pedar did not and could not include in his safety net. Like a captain of a ship being perilously tossed in a storm at sea, he had to use every bit of his effort just to keep his family safe, and every other man for himself. Shireen's family was on another ship, figuratively speaking--one whose goal wasn't to keep its members alive, but instead to charge directly into the storm and try futilely to tame it. The ultimate question here that we are to ponder is: in the end, what's the point of bravery if life is lost for nothing? Perhaps life and "cowardice" accomplish more in the long run than bravery and death.
There are many sad moments in this book, but many happy and beautiful ones, too. I think it's important to read, as is every work of literature and memoir that comes out of Iran. As a country that is essentially at cold war with Iran, America urgently needs to understand the gross disparity that has existed for so long between the Iranian people and the Iranian government. The Iranian people have always yearned for freedom and have exhibited a truly amazing love of their country in the face of everything. The procession of Iranian governments have consistently suppressed this with brute force, each within the framework of their own warped ideology. It's incredible to think that even though this story takes place in the late 60s to late 70s, it is the same damn story of families in present day Iran. Evin prison was used back then by SAVAK, and it's used today by the Revolutionary Guard, for the same identical purpose and in the same identical way. I will always watch Iran and hope for the day that there is no Evin, and people can live freely without a government that reaches its long tentacles into each and every person's life in this horrible perpetuation of a Soviet KGB model of rule.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read many books about the Iranian revolution times and how things became so oppressive after the revolution. Most of them have been non-fiction or based on real experiences. This book, however, is set in the time of the Shah and shows that the Shah's secret police and tactics were equally oppressive. The two girls in the story become friends in high school and their lives take very different paths, but the friendship endures beyond space and time. It is a sad story in many ways, but also a story of hope and finding ones way out of the dark. Shireen ends up a political "rebel" and suffers the wrath of the Shah's secret police and their political prison system. Roya is more a "prisoner" of her father and his expectations and rebels in her own way. Overall, it is kind of sad, but the tale is gripping and I finished the book in about 6 hours. Writing is good, though I agree that the Kindle version has some typos that are probably not in the print version. Overall, if you like to read about Iran, this book will give you a glimpse into a pre-revolution time and will give you a primer on Persian poetry as the girls learn about it. The symbol of the poppies is also an important one.

[Shari Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of two young women who become friends when they are 16 year old school girls in Iran, in 1968. It was a time when the country was ruled by the Shah, but the political climate was rapidly changing, and young people at that time got caught up in the events.

Roya comes from a wealthy and modern (by Iranian standards) family, but she is envious of the independence of her classmate Shireen, whose family is religious and more traditional. Shireen has secrets of her own, which could put her in great danger. Together, as they contend with becoming the women they want to me, they make decisions that will have tragic consequences, and family secrets will be unraveled.

This was a beautifully written story about the power of friendship. I also liked learning about what life was like in Iran before the current government they have now; it seems like the revolution and overthrow of the Shah made life worse, not better. It really makes me appreciate how good we have things here in the U.S.

If you like stories such as The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, I think you would enjoy this book also.