Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian

Abstract

Reviewed by: Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian April Spisak Nazemian, Abdi Only This Beautiful Moment. Balzer + Bray, 2023 [400p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780063039377 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780063039391 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 9-12 Three generations of an Iranian family have secrets and stories that, when finally shared, open metaphorical doors long closed and heal relationships that have scarred into distant hesitancy. 2019’s Moud struggles with hiding all evidence of his gay identity before going to visit his terminally ill grandpa in Tehran. 1978’s Saeed, Moud’s eventual father, wants to play a role in the Iranian Revolution even while his parents just want to keep him safe, and he is ultimately sent to America to live with family he didn’t even know. Going back even further to 1939, Babak, decades before he is Moud’s grandfather, knows that his love for his male best friend is forbidden, particularly in the Hollywood acting world where he is literally followed to ensure he lives up to his morality contract. These three men, tied together through love and family but kept apart because of secrets, lies, and literal distance, finally come together in Iran, where persistence and increasing reasons to trust each other help to dissolve the barriers between fathers and sons. Nazemian folds in enough historical and cultural details to ground the reader in Iranian culture and history, though it is also absolutely clear that there are far more layers than will fit in one already deep novel. Ultimately, this is a book about family, intergenerational trauma, love, and reconciliation set within two countries, a story that emphasizes the idea that where we are from is deeply influential in our identity making, while acknowledging that we are also formed out of who we love and who loves us. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois