Marsha Mehran (; born Mahsa Mehran; 11 November 1977 – April 2014)
was an Iranian novelist. Her works include the international bestsellers ''Pomegranate Soup'' (2005) and ''Rosewater and Soda Bread'' (2008).
Early life
Mehran was born in
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
on 11 November 1977,
to an accountant father and her mother Shahin was a teacher. Both practiced Iran’s
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
, which was considered heretical by hardline Islam. When, a year later, the Shah’s regime began to crumble, the couple began to make plans to leave. After
the storming of the American embassy in Tehran upended their plan to move to the USA, the family instead migrated to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, in 1979, at the time of the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
. Mehran grew up in Argentina and the United States, as well as lived in Australia and Ireland.
In their new home, political upheaval, this time associated with the rule of the
Argentine junta, forced the family to once more move continents. This time the family moved to America, where in Miami, Mehran pursued, for a decade, her then dream of becoming a concert pianist.
Mehran's parents divorced, and in the 1990s, Mehran and her mother came to New York. Mehran told an interviewer: “I arrived in New York with only $200 in my pocket. I worked, initially, as a hostess in a restaurant owned by Russian mobsters. There were no customers there, which I thought a bit odd at first, until I realised that the restaurant was just a front for their other dealings.”
At age 17, Mehran's father reports, her permanent visa for the United States was revoked for a "minor infraction". Unhappy about having to leave the United States, Mehran moved to Australia where her parents were now living. She then moved back to the USA on a Holiday Visa when she was 19. At 21 she moved back to Australia with her then partner Christopher before jumping back and forth between Ireland, Australia and New York. She received an Artist visa from the US in 2006 and moved back to New York.
Publications
Mehran's debut novel, ''Pomegranate Soup'' (2005), is the story of three sisters who escape
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
at the time of the Revolution and eventually settle in a small town in the west of Ireland, where they open the Babylon Cafe. Mehran used her own family's experiences when writing the novel, which includes a number of recipes and combines "Persian cooking with Irish living."
''Pomegranate Soup'' has been translated into 15 languages to date, and published in over 20 countries worldwide.
Her second novel, ''Rosewater and Soda Bread'' (2008), is a continuation of ''Pomegranate Soup''. It marked the second installment of a series that was cut short by her death in April 2014. The series was to run for seven books; the third, ''Pistachio Rain'', was due for publication in 2014.
Her posthumous novel, ''The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty'' (2014), later titled ''The Saturday Night School of Beauty'', is set in Buenos Aires during the
Falklands War
The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
and tells the story of a group of individuals who gather once a week to recite poetry and tell tales of what has been.
Adaptations
Matador Pictures optioned ''Pomegranate Soup'' in 2013 with Kirsten Sheridan slated to write and direct the film.
Personal life
Mehran was married to Christopher Collins from
County Mayo, Ireland.
[ They met when he was a bartender in an Irish pub, in ]Manhattan, New York
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.[ They then lived in Ireland for two years.] In 2013, the couple divorced.
Death
Mehran was found dead in her rented house in Lecanvey
Lecanvey () or Leckanvy () is a seaside village in County Mayo, Ireland, between Westport and Louisburgh, about 2 km west of Murrisk. It has a small beach with Lecanvey Pier. To the south is Croagh Patrick
Croagh Patrick (), nicknamed ...
, County Mayo, Ireland, on 30 April 2014, having been dead for about a week. She had lived there as a recluse
A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion and solitude. The word is from the Latin , which means 'to open' or 'disclose'.
Examples of recluses are Symeon of Trier, who lived within the great Roman gate Porta Nigra with permissio ...
and had deteriorated mentally, with the house filled with rubbish. She had suffered from long-term inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine ...
; the autopsy
An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...
indicated this may have been a factor in her death, though it was not possible to identify the exact cause. Her ashes were sent for resting in Melbourne.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehran, Marsha
1977 births
2014 deaths
Writers from Tehran
21st-century novelists
Iranian women novelists
21st-century Iranian women writers
American people of Iranian descent
20th-century Iranian novelists
20th-century Iranian women writers
Exiles of the Iranian Revolution