Medusa of the Roses (Paperback)

Navid Sinaki

ISBN 10: 1800816375 / ISBN 13: 9781800816374

Published by Profile Books Ltd, London, 2024

About this Item

Paperback. Anjir and Zal have been together ever since they first knew what love was. But living in Iran, the two men must keep their relationship hidden, potentially on pain of death. When Zal gets attacked after being caught with another man in public, Anjir is heartbroken by the betrayal but chooses to forgive as the pair formulate a plan for the future. The Iranian government will partially pay for a trans person's gender-confirming surgeries and Anjir, who's always identified with the mythical gender-changing Tiresias, will become a woman. Together they can move away from Tehran for a fresh start as husband and wife. Then Zal vanishes, leaving only a cryptic note behind. Anjir embarks on a quest through the queer underground of Tehran in search for the other man, hoping he will lead him to Zal. But someone is tailing Anjir too and the further into Zal's secrets he delves, the more he suspects that further violence may soon be necessary.A queer noir-infused love story of violence, vengeance and desire, Medusa of the Roses is a provocative, propulsive novel with the wild intensity of a fever dream. A transgressive, lyrical and deeply moving literary debut about forbidden gay love in Iran Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781800816374

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Medusa of the Roses (Paperback)
• Publisher: Profile Books Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1800816375
• ISBN 13: 9781800816374
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Sex, vengeance, and betrayal in modern day Tehran—Navid Sinaki’s bold and cinematic debut is a queer literary noir following Anjir, a morbid romantic and petty thief whose boyfriend disappears just as they’re planning to leave their hometown for good

Anjir and Zal are childhood best friends turned adults in love. The only problem is they live in Iran, where being openly gay is criminalized, and the government’s apparent acceptance of trans people requires them to surgically transition and pass as cis straight people. When Zal is brutally attacked after being seen with another man in public, despite the betrayal, Anjir becomes even more determined to carry out their longstanding plan for the future: Anjir, who’s always identified with the mythical gender-changing Tiresias, will become a woman, and they’ll move to a new town for a fresh start as husband and wife.

Then Zal vanishes, leaving a cryptic note behind that sets Anjir on a quest to find the other man, hoping he will lead to Zal. Stalking and stealing his way through the streets, clubs, library stacks, hotel rooms, and museum halls of Tehran—where he encounters his troubled mother, addict brother, and the dynamic Leyli, a new friend who is undergoing a transition of her own—Anjir soon realizes that someone is tailing him too. It quickly becomes clear that more violence may be the fastest route to freedom, as Anjir’s morals and gender identity are pushed to new places in the pursuit of love, peace, and self-determination.

Steeped in ancient Persian and Greek myths, and brimming with poetic vulnerability, subversive bite, and noirish grit, Medusa of the Roses is a page-turning wallop of a story from a bright new literary talent.