Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

Was digging through my boxes and boxes of books unopened since my move here over a year ago (my home office will be organized and furnished someday!) for a book for the bff when I came across this again and felt, rather contrarily given how slow I’ve been with reading recently otherwise, that I ought to give it another go. My God, has it been seven years since I first read this? (And thank you to Goodreads for helping me chart this information!) No wonder I remembered so little of it. Which isn’t to say it’s bad for being unmemorable, but the experience is so much of hanging out with the ladies, having tea and gossiping — an experience I like to enjoy, often, in real life — that it blends into my every day with only the exoticism of Iranian culture to differentiate it from either my American or Malaysian lives. Still a fast, lovely read, and a fascinating glimpse into life in Iran, but universally resonant in the way women contend with their (in this case, strictly hetero)sexuality and with men and the expectations of society. Marjane Satrapi’s art takes a distinctly secondary role to the vignettes of her narrative, and while this book is slighter than either her Persepolis masterwork or even the moving Chicken With Plums, it’s still a terrific graphic novel.