The Persians: Read and Reviewed by Meg Over Several Lattes

Book Review: The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025

In The Persians, debut novelist Sanam Mahloudji delivers a bold, evocative portrait of identity, inheritance, and the delicate dance between freedom and belonging. Set across shifting landscapes and turbulent times, the novel follows generations of a Persian family grappling with displacement, desire, and the weight of legacy.

With a sharp eye for human detail and a masterful sense of atmosphere, Mahloudji threads together intimate moments and sweeping history. Her prose is rich with wit, pain, and beauty—offering a story that is both deeply personal and broadly resonant.

At its heart, The Persians is about what we carry with us: stories, scars, secrets—and how we decide what to pass on. It’s a fierce and funny meditation on heritage, told with a confidence that marks Mahloudji as a writer to watch.

For a debut The Persians is kind of ridiculous. In the best way. It’s layered, emotional, and hits you in the gut without ever shouting. Grief, love, the messiness of womanhood — it’s all there, handled with this subtle, observant brilliance. What really got me was how Mahloudji writes about the way women are constantly watched, judged, and expected to hold it all together, while the men get to drift through without the same scrutiny. There’s also this thread running through the whole thing about money — not just in a “rich people problems” way, but in a what does inheritance actually do to us kind of way. Who does it bind? Who does it free? And how do we carry the weight of what we didn’t ask for?

I also really loved learning little bits about Persian culture — woven in so gently that it never feels forced. It’s in the food, the family dynamics, the rhythms of speech — a kind of cultural backdrop that hums underneath everything. You don’t need to know much going in; Mahloudji makes you feel like a welcome guest at the table.

Bottom line: if you’re in the mood for a novel that’s as emotionally rich as it is beautifully written — and goes down well with a strong coffee and a stronger stare into the middle distance — this one’s worth your time.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review of The Persians. Have you read it? I’d love to hear your thoughts and discuss!