The Persian Bride: A Novel

At once a great love story, a riveting political thriller, and a profound analysis of modern Iran, THE PERSIAN BRIDE is unflinching in its vision of twentieth-century chaos. In 1974, the young Englishman John Pitt follows the hippie trail to Isfahan, where he encounters the enchanting Shirin Farameh. These two young people fall desperately in love and marry, despite their cultural differences and the political upheaval surrounding them. When they are tragically separated, John sets off in search of his wife on a nightmare journey that takes him from the corrupt court of the shah to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The best novel of 1999.”

Times Literary Supplement

"A book of astonishing intellectual grandeur and integrity. . .Airy, graceful, and big with truth, it feels like a major statement of confidence, not just by an English novelist but by the English novel. . .There is really no word for it but 'masterpiece.'" --The Spectator

"Buchan's utterly transporting novel is part delightful romance, part journey into a harrowing political labryinth. . . A dazzling love story." Entertainment Weekly

"Buchan is a writer of noble obliquity. In describing everything, he gives nothing away." Memphis Commercial Appeal