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Persian Nights

diane johnson

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“Funny, incisive, frightening and eminently skillful."— New York Times

The year is 1978, the tumultuous period leading up to the Iranian Revolution. While visiting Iran with her husband, Chloe Fowler is left to travel alone after he is summoned home. Much to her surprise, she finds herself drawn to the country, intoxicated by each unfamiliar sight that reminds her how far from home she really is, both comforted and unsettled by the group of foreign and Iranian physicians and their wives who take her in. However, her exhilaration crashes when odd, often frightening events begin to occur, exposing the darker side of this "colonial life." Chloe is about to be liberated from everything she has ever known—in a place where her ordinary notions of reason and reality will run headlong into a wall of intrigue, and where every idea she has about herself will be put to the test.

Persian Nights follows Chloe on a voyage through the seductively inexplicable, and has all the qualities one expects from the gifted author of Le Divorce —the quirky, vivid atmosphere; the intelligent, humane voice; the compelling narrative. Once again, Diane Johnson delivers an entertaining novel of an appealing woman caught up in a mysterious world of change and intrigue.

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 1,1996
Literary awards
pulitzer prize, 

This edition

Format
368 pages, Paperback
Published
February 1, 1998 by Penguin Publishing Group
ISBN
9780452279582
ASIN
0452279585
Language
English

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About the author

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diane johnson

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Diane Johnson is an American novelist and essayist whose satirical novels often feature American heroines living in contemporary France. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Persian Nights in 1988.
In addition to her literary works, she is also known for writing the screenplay of the 1980 film The Shining together with its director and producer Stanley Kubrick.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 54 votes)
5 stars
13(24%)
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21(39%)
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54 reviews All reviews
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BlackAlpha
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Her books are Jane- Austen- like in the author's focus on the relationships of the characters and their foibles. I read this years ago and just reread it, wanting something light. I think it's my favorite of her novels, set in Iran, before the fall of the Shah. The main character, Chloe, is a type that is much less common these days, a woman who depends on her relationships with men (her husband and then her lover) for her sense of self. She begins to get a clue about other alternatives during an eventful stay in Iran.
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gaga-dragon
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I had read really good reviews about this book, so I think I was more disappointed that it didn't live up to expectations. The story was interesting and Johnson writes about competing cultures very well, but I think I just expected more.
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Gardia
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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The cover of this book screams "CHICK LIT", until you realize it was nominated for a Pulitzer in literature. Ms. Johnson is a master at plopping American characters in foreign countries, and showing the similarities and differences between two cultures. The ultimate lesson, I believe, is that nothing is what it seems on the news or on the surface, and you have to get to know people before you can make sweeping judgements. "You can't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes."
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NaKriminal
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This novel is set just before the fall of the Shahin Iran, although no specific dats are mentioned, so I spent most of the novel being not quite sure about the time frame. An interesting cast of characters come together is a housing compound for foreign doctors and run into various misunderstandings. A mysterty runs its way through the book and is not resolved until the very end.
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devildice
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Good but not as good as Le Divorce. A little predictable and forced.
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wolfgiselle
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Diane Johnson has achieved a remarkable feat of describing a world far removed from that of the main protagonist in an tone neither patronizing nor spectacular. ChLoe Fowler finds herself alone in pre-revolutionary Iran, at a point o which the hinges of history are irretrievably creaking. Through the author's taut, crisp story-telling and sensuous, evocative imagery, we are taken on an unforgettable journey.
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Nocturnia
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A very good read, keeping in mind that it was written over 20 years ago so the political scene has changed in many ways.
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