“ . . . The Septembers of Shiraz is a remarkable debut: the richly evocative, powerfully affecting depiction of a prosperous Jewish family in Tehran shortly after the revolution. In this fickle literary world, it's impossible to predict whether Sofer's novel will become a classic, but it certainly stands a chance.” —Claire Messud, The New York Times

“The Septembers of Shiraz rises above being an ethnic novel about an intriguing place. It does not exoticize the Middle East or focus unduly on tempting targets such as women being forced to cover themselves or the persecution of Jews. These things exist, but they are part of a panoply of strangeness wrought upon everyone regardless of religion, gender or class. Instead, the book is about how people, in any country, live mostly without thinking about the political implications of their choices, and how they are taken by surprise when revolution or war crashes in.” —Tara Bahrampour, The Washington Post



“The Septembers of Shiraz is limpidly beautiful: grave, ironic, detached. The scenes between the jeweler’s wife and her lifelong servant ought to become a locus classic for the representation of social complexity.”—Tessa Hadley, The New Yorker

 “[Sofer]… seems wise beyond her years, and her prose, sturdy always, sometimes offers us consolation we weren't aware we needed even as we grasp it with both hands.”—Alan Cheuse, Chicago Tribune

“… a beautiful novel—rich and exact in its depictions of one family’s ordeal in Iran after the Shah. The author has the gift to take us from the dreamy confusions of a nine-year-old girl to the terrors of her imprisoned father to the daily efforts of her stunned mother. By the end we too have ‘shared an education in grief,’ in a book with the quiet power of a great literary journey.”—Joan Silber, author of Ideas of Heaven and Household Words 

“… one of the most beautiful first novels I’ve ever come across. Dalia Sofer courageously takes on ambitious topics—political upheaval in Iran, imprisonment, religion, and betrayal—and handles them with the skills of a master storyteller. Sofer’s writing is full of well-observed details, compassion, and most important, hope. It is a rare book in a rare genre: the family love story.”—Vendela Vida, author of Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name”