Missing Soluch — Mahmoud Dowlatabadi

Perhaps the most important work in modern Iranian literature, this starkly beautiful novel examines the trials of an impoverished woman and her children living in a remote village in Iran, after the unexplained disappearance of her husband, Soluch.

Lyrical yet unsparing, the novel examines her life as she contends with the political corruption, authoritarianism, and poverty of the village. It follows her vacillations between love for Soluch and anger at his absence, and her struggle to raise her children without their father.

The novel critically evokes the unfulfilled aspirations of modern Iran, portraying a society caught between a past and a future that seem equally weighed down by injustice.

This landmark novel -- the first ever written in the everyday language of the Iranian people -- revolutionized Persian literature in its beautiful and daring portrayal of the life of a marginal woman and her struggle to survive.