I came to Iran through literature and language. Long before I traveled across the country, I had been reading Persian poetry, studying the rhythm of the language, and trying to understand a place that cannot be approached through headlines alone.
Traveling in Iran deepened that early fascination. I encountered a country of immense cultural density: hospitality and restraint, beauty and endurance, tenderness and control. Iran’s politics are complicated and often painful, and the present moment makes this impossible to ignore. All of the friends in Iran I have been able to reach speak of unimaginable violence and loss. Nearly everyone knows a young person who was killed.
After everything I have experienced in Ukraine, I did not think I could still be shocked. Yet with every new story, I understand more clearly the depth of grief and suffering the country is moving through, often without witnesses. It is precisely in moments like this that reading matters: not as escape, but as a way to resist simplification, to remember that no country can be reduced to crisis alone.
This reading list brings together books from my library. These books are an attempt to understand Iran not as an abstraction or a crisis, but as a layered, ancient, and profoundly human place.
Essentials — where to begin
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat
A foundational modern Iranian novel. Dark, hallucinatory, and deeply psychological, it explores alienation, obsession, and the fracture between inner life and social reality. Demanding, but essential.
Another Birth by Forough Farrokhzad
Farrokhzad’s most celebrated poetry collection. Intimate, defiant, and radically modern, it reshaped Persian literary voice and remains central to understanding women’s interior lives in Iran.
Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets by Najmieh Batmanglij
More than a cookbook: a cultural document. Regional recipes reveal Iran’s geography, history, and rituals, showing how food functions as memory, hospitality, and continuity. Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij is a rich companion to Cooking in Iran. Also highly recommended.
Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran by Jason Elliott
A thoughtful travelogue that moves beyond surface impressions. Elliott explores Iranian landscapes, sacred spaces, and cultural subtleties with patience and curiosity.
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran by Hooman Majd
Clear-eyed essays on contemporary Iranian politics and society. Majd explains contradictions and power structures through stories and personal encounters. I also recommend The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay by the same author.
The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran by Homa Katouzian
A concise yet far-reaching history of Iran from antiquity to the present. Essential background for understanding long-term political and cultural patterns.
Poetry & Inner Life
Sin: Selected Poems by Forough Farrokhzad
A sharper, riskier selection of Farrokhzad’s work. These poems confront desire, shame, and autonomy, illuminating why her voice remains both revered and unsettling.
Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz by Hafez (translated by Dick Davis)
Hafez is woven into Iranian daily life. Sensual, ironic, and mystical, these poems form an emotional and ethical language Iranians still quote, argue with, and live by.
The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar (translated by Sholeh Wolpé (2017) or by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis (1984))
A classic Sufi allegory of spiritual search and transformation. Its imagery and symbolism echo throughout Persian culture and literature.
Lived Iran & Cultural Observation
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
A memoir about reading as resistance. Nafisi shows how literature becomes a private refuge and a form of quiet rebellion under ideological pressure.
Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran by Elaine Sciolino
Focused on everyday encounters, domestic spaces, and women’s lives. Iran appears through gestures, conversations, and rituals rather than grand narratives.
If you have your own favorites, please add them in the comment.
New on Substack: starting January, a guided program to learn perfumery with me.
Perfume Class 101: The First Materials to Buy
Five Things That Stayed With Me — January: Books, perfume, essentials
14 Comments
Sandra: I added The Blind Owl to my library list—thank you! I always enjoy your reading lists, and there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book, a favorite perfume, and a cuppa.
Warm hugs, V 🙂 January 26, 2026 at 9:30am
Victoria: That sounds like a perfect reading ritual. Warm hugs back to you. January 27, 2026 at 8:02am
Karen A: Thank you for some book ideas! I read Mirrors of the Unseen a while ago, have to see if I still have it and reread it. Putting The Persians and The Ayatollah Begs to Differ on my list. Resisting simplification is a challenge these days. January 26, 2026 at 10:38am
Victoria: I am glad the list was useful. Thank you for reading. January 27, 2026 at 8:01am
Aurora: Thank you Victoria, an inspiring overview of Iran. I am very fond of Persian cuisine, the fresh coriander, the eggplants, the lentils. January 26, 2026 at 1:41pm
Victoria: Thank you. Persian cuisine carries so much.
Coriander, eggplants, lentils, these are tastes that I also enjoy. January 27, 2026 at 8:01am
Marvin: This is a fabulous list. I’m very keen on the poetry.
My addition: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. January 27, 2026 at 1:09am
Victoria: Thank you, Marvin. Persepolis is an excellent addition. It captures personal history with clarity and restraint, and it belongs very much in this conversation. January 27, 2026 at 8:00am
Marsi: “The Cypress Tree” by Kamin Mohammadi is a wonderful memoir.
Thank you for sharing this list. Iran has long been on my wish list, especially with my Persian sister-in-law, and I hope its people once again taste freedom from tyranny. February 2, 2026 at 3:30pm
Victoria: Thank you so much for a vote of confidence. It’s a wonderful book. February 8, 2026 at 11:48am
Marsi: Oh, and I just thought of another I enjoyed: “On the Hippie Trail,” by Rick Steves. February 2, 2026 at 3:31pm
Victoria: Adding it too! February 8, 2026 at 11:48am
ITK: Dear Victoria, thank you for creating this list to read. Iranian literature is not widely known for Europeans. My personal family story is that in our family we had paternal Cossacks who brought women from Persia as a war trophies. They baptized them to be Orthodox Christians and given new names. One of them was my grand-grand-grandmother. In my lifetime I want to visit Iran and find out places where she grew up. My intent is to pay her a tribute and forever gratefulness how she raised her 5 children in completely new surroundings and new language. Our family survived Revolution, because her wisdom was passed to her children. I like this book, because it is based on the true story, similar times before WWI and reminds me how fragile can be peace and people’s lives. We take so many things for granted, but we need to know our past, so past mistakes can be learned and never forgotten. Haddad
“A Hundred Sweet Promises”.
With best wishes to you! February 5, 2026 at 12:52pm
Victoria: Thank you very much for sharing this story. It’s fascinating and also complex on so many levels. I will look for the book you mention. February 8, 2026 at 11:49am