Nasrin Bagherzadeh is a girl from Khorramshahr who had a good life with her husband, Bahman Bagheri and, the thought of war would never cross her mind, but when the war got started, all of a sudden she had to face so many new challenges. she spent the first new days of the war in the city but then had to leave Khorramshahr and go to Shiraz with other women in the family, while their men had stayed to protect the city.
This book would be better to be named the story of the war days in which you read about women’s role in the war and, their resistance by men’s sides. The story begins from years before the war and when the main character was still a child and reaches its peak whit the beginning of the war.
Behnaz Zarabizadeh, the author of this book, has previously written some other books such as "Sheena's Daughter" and "Eleventh Golestan" and this time, she goes for a woman from Khorramshahr and her life under bullet and fire. So far, the English and Arabic editions have been published.
Kianoosh Nourshahi, a literature researcher, has introduced this book and gave his opinion on it in a note that he wrote for Mehr News Agency to be published.
The note is as follows:
A sad story can’t be sweet even if we hear it from the warm and charming language of Nasrin, the southern lady and the wife of martyr Bahman Bagheri. “Saji” by Behnaz Zarabizadeh, begins with pain, disease, and becoming homeless during the prevalence of Typhus. It continues until the destruction of World War ll and with the end of it, the season of life, happiness, peace, parties, and marriage get started. But, it seems like peace is not going to last. Nasrin’s father, who she really loved, passed away. But then, despite her age, she feels a strong love inside herself.
With the beginning of Bahman and Nasrin's love and their marriage, a short joy and happiness can be felt in the story. That morning when she woke up, and the home was full of excitement, the passion, those beautiful lights in the yard with the smell of Esfand, flowers, and sweets; at that exact moment, you just want to close the book and end the story so that Nasrin can still be happy with her husband and her children but it’s not going to happen.
The story changes a lot with the start of the Iran-Iraq war. From now on, for several seasons, the reader follows Nasrin and Bahman through the war, under the bullets and fire, with the smell of blood, and women’s cries.
The author, who quickly and skillfully narrates the initial events of the story, at this point, goes through it with more passion to tell us all the details.
Among all of these tragedies, the love of Nasrin and Bahman still sweetens the story a little bit but then, with the death of “Saaji” Bahman and Nasrin's Newborn baby, the story becomes even more sorrowful. “I smelled the colorful piece on the small table in front of the stroller. They smelled like Sajedeh’s little hands and all of a sudden that felt like nothings matter. I hated Bahman. I felt like she got sacrificed for Bahman, for Khorramshahr, Ababdan, for Bahman’s aspirations and aspirations. I hate war…” Nasrin said.
This battle was also a massive burden on Bahman’s shoulders, like when he told Nasrin to forgive him for all of these problams and tragedies and that he even wished for death!
Source:Tehran Times