The Lion & the Sun

The story of Salman in this novel starts with his escape from the advancing Bolsheviks in Azerbaijan to Iran in search of freedom that his ancestors had been seeking for six centuries. The background of his adventures in Iran starts from the early 20th century when Iran, under the reign of powerful Reza Shah, began to move toward westernization of the country by following the modernization plans of Kamal Atta Turk, the President of Turkey. The adventure continues during the short-lived democracy established by Dr. Mossadegh. Iranian democracy died with President Eisenhower ordered his CIA Director to go to Tehran and start a coup against Dr. Mossadegh and bring back the Shah who had fled to Italy. Salman, his wife and four children managed to cross the treacherous Aras River where they almost lost a child. Once in Iran they witnessed the hanging of the murderer of the Mayor of Marand and arrived in Tabriz just in time to observe the Persian Passion Play. In Tabriz he became the Director of Tabriz-Jolfa Railroad and eventually the first Iranian to build the National Iranian Railroad under the direction of Reza Shah. His six sons and two daughters became professionals who studied at the University of Michigan, Sorbonne, Berlin University and the University of Tehran where his oldest daughter became the first Iranian woman dentist. His youngest son, Falal came to America to study music and become a concert pianist, but through a series of traumatic events he decided to pursue his ancestral search for freedom.