People ,who through no fault of their own, were made to struggle through this war that still exists within the confines of Iran’s borders. But this wonderful novel picks the bones of the Iranian people. We all know it’s not a safe place to live, or even visit.

We find out what really happened to Noor’s mother and why Zod really sent the two children away.Įveryone has heard of the atrocities in Iran. How they built the cafe and how Zod married his wife and made the cafe what it is today. We discover how Zod’s parents emigrated from Russian during that revolution. And that changes the dynamic of the visit exponentially.īijan takes us back and forth in time handing us snippets of the past. But what Noor soon finds out is that Zod is not well. And her father is still the mainstay of the neighborhood, cooking for everyone and making an oasis for all. The country has changed so much in the 30 years since Noor has visited. Lily is a very rebellious teenager herself by now and does NOT want to go. But when Noor discovers that her husband has been unfaithful she takes Lily to Tehran to visit her father, Lily’s grandfather. And they marry and have one daughter, Lily. We find Noor growing up alone in California and becoming a nurse. People were being killed needlessly while others just disappeared. It was becoming too dangerous in Tehran in the 1970’s during the Islamic takeover of Iran. As it broke his heart, Zod knew he must send both his son and daughter to safety far away. Noor was a teen when she was sent from her home in Iran to America by her father. It’s written with a great deal of love and a keen attention to detail a delicate, dangerous balance of history and progress. It’s about families, heritage, the angst of being young and being old. “The Last Days of Cafe Leila,” by Donia Bijan, is a wonderfully refreshing and delicious novel about growing up in Iran before and after the revolution.

The last days of cafe leila review