Female Life on Planet Earth by Laleh Khadivi review
A woman living in California discovers her mother may have been a merciless enforcer of the Islamic revolution, in an intriguing novel of inheritance and identity
TL;DR
- The novel focuses on the theme of inheritance, both of skills and secrets, and what parents pass on to their children.
- Heti, the protagonist, discovers photographs suggesting her mother was an enforcer of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
- The book explores the dissonance and shock Heti experiences upon learning about her mother's potential past.
- Khadivi contrasts Heti's mundane suburban life with her mother's hidden, potentially violent history and explores the connection Heti feels.
- The narrative structure uses vignettes and references to celestial bodies and physics, creating a blend of the domestic and metaphysical.
- The novel highlights the potential for daughters to carry forward, resist, or remake the legacies they inherit.
- It suggests that the most important question is not what we inherit, but what we choose to become.