I Hid My Voice
On sale
4th August 2016
Price: £10.99
From the author of the international bestseller The Book of Fate
Four-year-old Shahaab has not started talking. The family doctor believes there is no cause for concern; nevertheless, Shahaab is ridiculed by others who call him ‘dumb’. In his innocent and deeply hurt child’s mind, he begins to believe that the ‘good’ and ‘intelligent’ children like his older brother are their fathers’ sons. On the other hand, children like him who are ‘clumsy’ and ‘problematic’ are their mothers’ sons.
No one in the family can understand Shahaab except his maternal grandmother, who seems to possess the understanding and kindness he so desperately craves. Their growing bond leads to a deep friendship in which Shahaab is able to experience some happiness and finally find his voice.
Four-year-old Shahaab has not started talking. The family doctor believes there is no cause for concern; nevertheless, Shahaab is ridiculed by others who call him ‘dumb’. In his innocent and deeply hurt child’s mind, he begins to believe that the ‘good’ and ‘intelligent’ children like his older brother are their fathers’ sons. On the other hand, children like him who are ‘clumsy’ and ‘problematic’ are their mothers’ sons.
No one in the family can understand Shahaab except his maternal grandmother, who seems to possess the understanding and kindness he so desperately craves. Their growing bond leads to a deep friendship in which Shahaab is able to experience some happiness and finally find his voice.
Reviews
The author's background can be sensed at every turn of the page, Saniee skilfully integrates concepts and theories about the psychology of the child and demonstrates how easy it is to cause, as parents, irremediable damages to a child, but also how easy it is not to cause them . . . it's a word of warning. Parinoush Saniee masters the art
A new literary sensation. A child's untold words become a scream against heartlessness and indifference
A beautiful metaphor of the censorship that dominates her country
A richly written novel with which Parinoush Saniee digs into the social texture of her country, Iran, and which, while telling the story of the struggles of a boy, portrays the life of women. Tight dialogue and a protagonist who becomes the symbol of hope in a better world
Gripping . . . an agonising childhood in the Iran of the ayatollahs, with its revolutionary committees and moral police always lurking
A deeply moving book
Deserves to make a splash... Saniee's book shines a light on one child's helplessness and, by extension, everyday Iranians' inability to speak out. It is also proof that a book doesn't have to be a big-name blockbuster to be an immensely satisfying summer read
A fictive tale of an Iranian boy who is mute, it is also the story of women in Iran. Powerful, moving, and profoundly sad, it's a glimpse into a deeply foreign culture