Dora Levy Mossanen’s latest historical novel is a compelling account of love and community

It is unlikely many Iranian Jewish women are involved in the ongoing protests in Iran. Historically they have been silent and invisible and there has always been an almost total absence of literature by Jewish women in Iran because it endangered the community. But in exile there has been an explosion of these women’s voices. Writers such as Farideh Goldin, Gina Nahai, Roya Hakakian, Dalia Sofer, Mojgan Kahen and Dora Levy Mossanen, who all fled from Iran following the revolution in 1979, have spoken out, making Iranian Jewish women visible for the first time and exploring their experience through novels and memoirs.

Love and War in the Jewish Quarter is Mossanen’s latest thrilling historical novel. It is set in the 1940s, when World War II is raging and Iran has been invaded by the Allies. Adept at creating contrasts between the opulent interiors of powerful rulers and the decaying Jewish quarter, the author provides us with vivid insights into the two worlds. Demonised by the majority Shi’a Muslims, who believe Jews are impure, the Jewish community experiences perpetual trauma, always fearful of pogroms by the Muslims, yet continuing to celebrate their traditions. In the Tehran ghetto we meet an extraordinary cast of characters, including the Jewish protagonist, Dr Yaran, a renowned dentist.

One day the doctor is summoned to the royal palace to treat the queen of Iran and is then ordered to administer to the ruthless governor general, who despises Jews but insists on being treated by Dr Yaran because of his innovative treatments. When the dentist’s wife Ruby dies in childbirth, the Jewish community’s expectation is that he will marry a Jewish woman, who will be a mother to his daughter Neda. However, the dentist falls deeply in love with Velvet, the governor general’s unhappy young wife – and a Muslim. This is a secret Dr Yaran must closely guard because the relationship endangers himself, his daughter and the entire Jewish community. Will he marry her? Meanwhile our protagonist worries about his daughter, whose eyes have stopped producing tears and who is being cared for by superstitious aunt Shamsie. He finally realises that Neda’s acute attachment to her dolls, her imaginary friend in the mushroom patch, her concern for her father’s happiness and the problem with her eyes might all originate from the absence of a mother in her life.

Set against this compelling story of love and community there is also the issue of the ‘Tehran children’, the true story of the Polish Jewish orphans during World War II, who found temporary refuge in the Soviet Union following Hitler’s invasion of Poland and were then evacuated to Tehran. With his connections in high places, the dentist is enlisted to secure their safe passage to Palestine.

With Mossanen’s rich prose replete with imaginative imagery, Farsi phrases and a scattering of mystical love poetry and magical realism, the narrative urges the reader ever forward in an enjoyable tale that also throws light on a disappeared world.

By Jennifer Langer

Header photo © Alamy

Love and War in the Jewish Quarter by Dora Levy Mossanen is out now. Dr Jennifer Langer is founding director of Exiled Writers Ink.

See Dora Levy Mossanen speak at our Unveiling Iran online event on Wednesday 8 March. 7.30pm. FREE.

This article appears in the Winter 2023 issue of JR.