Gharb-e Arezou

"Gharb-e Arezou"is a collection of short stories that explore the journey of a young woman named Arezou—meaning "dream" in Persian—to the West ("Gharb"). The book offers a deep and nuanced narrative of Arezou's immigrant experiences as an Iranian in U.S. academia. Each story forms a piece of the intricate puzzle of Arezou's life as she navigates the complexities of working and raising children in a foreign culture, constantly torn between staying in the U.S. or returning to Iran, grappling with the emotional weight of news from her homeland, and confronting the taboos that have followed her across borders. Through her experiences, the collection delves into themes of identity, memory, belonging, motherhood, and cultural tensions, all while reflecting the broader landscape of immigration.