Donia Bijan’s debut novel, “Last Days of Café Leila,” is the story of a woman attempting to find herself by rediscovering her family history and her roots: Her native Iran, her parent’s home, and her family’s beloved Café Leila.
Bijan herself left Iran in 1978 and ran a restaurant in Palo Alto, California, for 10 years, so there are clearly some autobiographical touches in the novel.
Run by three-generations of the Yadegar family, Café Leila has stood throughout Iran’s political turmoil and its effects on the country and its people. It is a powerful novel about family, strength, and resilience that sweeps the reader into Tehran and into the lives of the Yadegars from the early 1930s to the present day.
Behzod (Zod) Yadegar, the café’s second-generation owner, is in Tehran waiting for the postman to deliver a letter from his daughter, Noor. But sometimes letters from America can take two or three weeks to arrive.
Meanwhile, Noor, a nurse in San Francisco, has left her husband of 16 years, due to his infidelity, and moved into an apartment with her teenage daughter. Eventually, unable to pull herself out of the hole she has fallen into, Noor writes to her father and asks her if she can come back home.
This is when the story moves to Tehran and Café Leila.
“In a cul-de-sac at the end of Nasrin Street, quiet except at the hour when the kindergartners at Firouzeh Elementary were set free, sat a faded yellow brick building detached from its neighbors. Here, beneath a recessed sign, was Café Leila, its entrance framed in a low-hanging wisteria in full bloom.”
Within the confines of Café Leila, its garden and the now-obsolete Hotel Leila are Zod; 85-year-old Naneh Goli — Zod’s old nanny; waiters Hedayat and Aladdin who “still wore the same faded dark blue jackets with gold-fringed epaulettes, making them look like retired generals;” cousin Soli, who joined the staff after the war; and Karim, a young orphan apprentice who does odd jobs around the complex when not in school. With the exception of Soli and Karim, these are all the people Noor left behind nearly 30 years ago.
Bijan sensitively contrasts Noor’s San Francisco and Zod’s Tehran. In America, there is cautious comfort, a beauty Noor recognizes, but from which she feels disconnected. In Tehran there is a familiarity, a certain sense of calm, despite the troubles and fear of political edicts.
Bijan also contrasts the emotions of mother and daughter. Lily, born and raised in America, is furious about their move. She has never visited Iran and does not speak the language. But Noor realizes her life in San Francisco had left her feeling empty, and finally feels a sense of belonging. “The world changed around Café Leila, but the life that had gone on there since the 1930s continued,” Bijan writes. The café is the glue that holds three generations together.
In every corner of the house, restaurant and garden are bits and pieces of Noor’s life, as well as the lives of her brother Mehrdad, her parents and her Russian expat grandparents who first opened the café. Noor embraces that past as the Café does — a history spanning generations. The small orchard of pomegranate, almond and mulberry planted by Noor’s grandfather Yanik, for instance, “Year after year they blossomed, filling the air with their sweet smell, regardless of political turmoil or the events on the street.” Through Yanik and Nina came a love for Iran and for Persian food that lives on through Zod and Noor.
Bijan’s story is a refreshing take on the immigrant experience — one that is filled with the discovery of culture and of delicious and inventive cuisine.
There is trouble for Noor and Lily in Tehran, in the form of restrictive laws and an ailing, elderly father, but somehow the two women manage to find themselves, or, in Lily’s case, another version of herself she was unaware existed.
“Last Days of Café Leila” is about cherishing the past and reclaiming spaces in both the physical and mental realms. It is about understanding oneself through one’s family and traditions. It is a journey that keeps Noor teetering on a line between her two roles of daughter to a sick father and mother to a defiant teenager.
Bijan writes beautifully of a homecoming, not only in terms of familial ties, but also the sensual experience: the trees, the sounds, the sights, and smells.
Café Leila is not just Noor’s childhood home, it is a place of refuge, healing, and a place of acceptance no matter status or creed.
Bijan leads her readers through a spectrum of emotions with an incredibly relatable story, especially for people who have had to leave their homes for whatever reason. Bijan, through Noor, sums up the story simply and powerfully: “(She) couldn’t do anything to change the conditions, she couldn’t deny her awareness and she couldn’t stand in the way of death or love. The only thing to do was to keep moving, to do something, to show courage, to give everything she was capable of giving.”
Book Review: The story of a woman on a quest to find herself
Book Review: The story of a woman on a quest to find herself

Book Review: ‘Brief Answers to the Big Questions’

- Final work by the renowned physicist combines complex scientific ideas with accessible explanations, making it a must-read for anyone curious about the cosmos
Stephen Hawking’s “Brief Answers to the Big Questions” is a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of science’s most profound mysteries, offering insights into the origins of the universe and humanity’s place within it.
Published in 2018, this final work by the renowned physicist combines complex scientific ideas with accessible explanations, making it a must-read for anyone curious about the cosmos.
Hawking begins by addressing how the universe came into existence. He explains that the laws of physics are sufficient to describe the universe’s origins, suggesting that it could arise from a state of nothingness due to the balance of positive and negative energy.
By linking this to the nature of time, which began alongside the universe itself, he offers a perspective grounded in scientific reasoning.
The book also delves into the evolution of the universe and the evidence supporting it. Hawking discusses how the redshift of light from distant galaxies confirms the universe’s expansion, while the cosmic microwave background radiation provides a glimpse into its dense, hot beginnings.
Through the anthropic principle, he demonstrates how the unique conditions of our universe make life possible, underscoring how rare such conditions are.
Hawking also considers the possibility of extraterrestrial life, suggesting that while life may exist elsewhere, intelligent civilizations are unlikely to be nearby or at the same stage of development. He cautions against attempts to communicate with alien life, warning that such interactions could pose risks to humanity.
One of the book’s most intriguing sections explores black holes. Hawking examines their immense density, the singularity at their core, and the paradox of information loss. He explains how black holes might release information as they evaporate, preserving the fundamental laws of physics.
Beyond its scientific insights, the book is a call to action. Hawking urges readers to prioritize scientific progress, safeguard the planet, and prepare for the challenges of the future.
Though some sections may challenge non-experts, “Brief Answers to the Big Questions” remains accessible, inspiring, and deeply insightful — a fitting conclusion to Hawking’s extraordinary legacy.
What We Are Reading Today: Freedom Season by Peniel E. Joseph

In Freedom Season, Peniel E. Joseph offers a stirring narrative history of 1963, marking it as the defining year of the Black freedom struggle.
By year’s end the murders of John F. Kennedy, Medgar Evers, and four Black girls at a church in Alabama left the nation determined to imagine a new way forward. “Freedom Season” shows how the upheavals of 1963 planted the seeds for watershed civil rights legislation and renewed hope in the promise and possibility of freedom.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Pocket Instructor: Writing’

Editors: Amanda Irwin Wilkins, Keith Shaw
“The Pocket Instructor: Writing” offers 50 practical exercises for teaching students the core elements of successful academic writing.
The exercises — created by faculty from a broad range of disciplines and institutions — are organized along the arc of a writing project, from brainstorming and asking analytical questions to drafting, revising, and sharing work with audiences outside traditional academia.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Emperor of Gladness’

- Reading “The Emperor of Gladness” felt like embarking on an emotional journey that resonated deeply with me
Author: Ocean Vuong
As an avid reader, I often search for books that not only tell compelling stories but also touch the depths of my soul.
Ocean Vuong’s “The Emperor of Gladness’ is a book that captivated me in ways I did not expect. From its opening pages, I knew I was in for a transformative experience.
Vuong, a Vietnamese-American poet and novelist, is known for his lyrical and poignant style that explores themes of identity, family, and the immigrant experience.
His debut novel this year follows the success of his award-winning poetry collections, including “Night Sky with Exit Wounds,” which garnered critical acclaim and established him as a significant voice in contemporary literature.
Reading “The Emperor of Gladness” felt like embarking on an emotional journey that resonated deeply with me. Sometimes you do not just read a book; you bleed through it.
Vuong’s lyrical prose enveloped me, drawing me into the intricate lives of his characters. I found myself captivated by their struggles and triumphs, each story reflecting the complexities of identity and family ties.
This is my second five-star book of the year, and the magic of it still lingers, like an unsolved riddle in the back of my mind.
Vuong has a remarkable ability to weave together themes of love and trauma, striking a chord that reminded me of my own experiences searching for belonging.
His vivid imagery made me feel as if I was walking alongside the characters, experiencing their joys and sorrows firsthand.
I was particularly moved by how he portrayed the Vietnamese-American experience, capturing the nuances of culture and the weight of history. Each character felt real and relatable, navigating their paths in a world that can often feel isolating.
What stayed with me long after I finished the book was the tenderness with which Vuong approached his characters. This novel is not just a story; it is an exploration of what it means to be human, to love, and to endure.
Overall, “The Emperor of Gladness” is a beautifully crafted work that left a lasting impact on me. I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates lyrical storytelling and the exploration of identity.
Review: Aria Aber’s debut novel ‘Good Girl’ marks her as a writer to watch

JEDDAH: In her debut novel “Good Girl,” German-born poet Aria Aber writes a raw tableau of contemporary German society, plunging readers into post-9/11 psyche through the eyes of Nila, a 19-year-old Afghan German girl.
As Nila stumbles through Berlin’s underground techno scene, the city emerges as a character that, like her, is fractured and being forged anew. Berlin seems to be in the throes of struggling to reinvent itself amidst rising Islamophobia and neo-Nazi violence, while Nila’s quest for selfhood emerges in her rebellion against the suffocating expectations imposed on Afghan girls and the identity crisis born out of living in a society that seems suspicious of her presence.
It's a tale as old as the human desire for movement and refuge: Nila is too Afghan for German society, and too German for the Afghan community, with both watching her every move. Aber’s raw and fragmented narrative style mirrors her character’s splintered identity while capturing her “violent desire” to live and her aching need to belong and to be accepted as she is.
Though the novel occasionally stumbles with uneven pacing and moments that may seem repetitive or overwritten, what sets it apart is the author’s refusal to sanitize or sermonize. Nila’s messy, unconventional path to self-discovery remains unapologetically hers.
The emotional core of the novel lies in the tension between expectations placed on girls and the honor-based abuse that simmers beneath. Nila’s parents, progressive by diaspora standards, permit her artistic pursuits and eschew strict traditions. Yet their insistence on a “good girl” image still carries an undercurrent of control that constrains her freedom.
Ultimately, “Good Girl” is a young woman’s howl against a world that demands she shrink, marking Aber as a writer to watch.