Skip to content
  • Common Currency
  • Campaigns
    • PENWrites
    • Writers at Risk
    • Writers in Residence
    • Free speech in the UK
  • News
  • Events
  • Translation
    • PEN Translates
    • PEN Transmissions
    • International Translation Day
    • The World Bookshelf
      • Books
      • Authors
      • Translators
    • PEN Presents
      • Issues
      • Books
      • Apply to PEN Presents
  • Prizes
    • PEN Pinter Prize
    • PEN Ackerley Prize
    • PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize
  • Donate
  • Join
Home > Translation > The World Bookshelf > Books > Touba and the Meaning of Night

Touba and the Meaning of Night

When her father dies, 14 year-old Touba proposes to a 52 year-old relative in order to ensure her family’s financial security. Intimidated by her outspoken nature, Touba’s husband soon divorces her.

She marries again, to a prince with whom she has four children – but he proves unfaithful and unreliable. Touba is divorced from him, and lives out the rest of her life as matriarch to a changing household of family members and assorted refugees.

She is haunted by the spirit of a young girl who was murdered by her own father after becoming pregnant as a result of a violent rape.

Touba’s daughter secretly marries Ismael but when he is jailed for extremist behaviour she tries to abort her unborn baby, leaving herself infertile.

Touba and the Meaning of Night tells the story of one woman’s life against an ever-changing political and social backdrop.

‘Mixing history, mysticism, philosophy and personal tragedy . . . a masterpiece, Pasripur is one of the giants of Iranian literature’
Camden New Journal

Writers in Translation organized two events to celebrate the publication of the book:

Shahrnush Parsipur discussed the novel at Aga Khan University, and a reception and reading with Shahrnush Parsipur and Maureen Freely was held at Al Saqi Bookshop.

Author

Shahrnush Parsipur

Shahrnush Parsipur

Books

Touba and the Meaning of Night

Shahrnush Parsipur was born in 1946 in Tehran, Iran. She published her first short stories in literary magazines at the age of 16, and went on to write essays, story collections, and several novels. She received her B.A. in sociology from Tehran University in 1973 and studied Chinese language and civilization at the Sorbonne from 1976 to 1980. She was arrested for the first time in 1974, by the Shah’s intelligence agency, and would be jailed three additional times under the Islamic Republic. She began writing Touba and the Meaning of Night while imprisoned in Iran.

Touba and the Meaning of Night was published in Iran in 1989 to great critical acclaim and instant bestseller status until Parsipur was again arrested a year later, and all her works banned by the Islamic Republic.

Parsipur now lives in the USA and writes in exile in the San Francisco Bay area.

Translator

Havva Houshmand

Havva Houshmand

Books

Touba and the Meaning of Night

Havva has lived, studied, and taught in many countries, including Iran, Holland, England, and France. She is a faculty member of the School of International Studies at the University of the Pacific.

Kamran Talattof

Kamran Talattof

Books

Touba and the Meaning of Night

Kamran Talattof previously co-translated Parsipur’s Women Without Men and is associate professor of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona, Tuscan.

Published by

Marion Boyars, 2007
Buy Book

Share

When her father dies, 14 year-old Touba proposes to a 52 year-old relative in order to ensure her family’s financial security. Intimidated by her outspoken nature, Touba’s husband soon divorces her.

She marries again, to a prince with whom she has four children – but he proves unfaithful and unreliable. Touba is divorced from him, and lives out the rest of her life as matriarch to a changing household of family members and assorted refugees.

She is haunted by the spirit of a young girl who was murdered by her own father after becoming pregnant as a result of a violent rape.

Touba’s daughter secretly marries Ismael but when he is jailed for extremist behaviour she tries to abort her unborn baby, leaving herself infertile.

Touba and the Meaning of Night tells the story of one woman’s life against an ever-changing political and social backdrop.

‘Mixing history, mysticism, philosophy and personal tragedy . . . a masterpiece, Pasripur is one of the giants of Iranian literature’
Camden New Journal

Writers in Translation organized two events to celebrate the publication of the book:

Shahrnush Parsipur discussed the novel at Aga Khan University, and a reception and reading with Shahrnush Parsipur and Maureen Freely was held at Al Saqi Bookshop.

Join our mailing list

Sign up to receive the latest English PEN news and events.

SIGN UP
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Partners
  • Outreach
  • Jobs
  • Contact us

With thanks to our Core Funders

©1921 - 2023

English PEN is a company limited by guarantee number 5747142 (England & Wales) and a registered charity, number 1125610.

We use cookies to help us improve your experience on our website. By closing this notification or interacting with the website you agree to our use of cookies. ACCEPT Find out more
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT