Touba and the Meaning of Night

Touba and the Meaning of Night

First edition (Persian)
Author	Shahrnush Parsipur
Original title	طوبی و معنای شب
Translator	Kamran Talattof Havva Houshmand
Country	Iran
Language	Persian
Set in	Iran
Publisher	Intishārāt-i Ispark (Iran), Feminist Press (US)
Publication date	1989
Published in English	2006
Media type	Print
Pages	367 pp
ISBN	978-1-5586-1519-9
OCLC	62878277
Dewey Decimal	891.5533
LC Class	PK6561.P247

Touba and the Meaning of Night (Persian: طوبی و معنای شب) is a novel written by the Iranian novelist, Shahrnush Parsipur and originally published in Iran in 1989. Written after the author had spent four years and seven months in prison, it is Parsipur's second novel and is a fictional account of a woman, Touba, living through the rapidly changing political environment of 20th century Iran. Like other works of Shahrnush Parsipur, Touba and the Meaning of Night is considered by most to be a feminist work. Also, like Parsipur's other work, Touba and the Meaning of Night remains banned in Iran.

Plot summary

Spanning eighty years, the novel follows the life of Touba, a young woman educated by her father in a time when few women received education. After her father passes away, Touba proposes to and marries a 52-year-old man. Initiated in desperation, the marriage causes Touba to fall into depression and eventually ends in a divorce. Touba later remarries a Prince of the Qajar dynasty. Though her second marriage starts happily, it also ends in divorce when the Prince takes a second wife. After the divorce, Touba is left to raise their daughter on the dwindling allowance afforded by her former husband's diminishing dynasty. To compensate, Touba weaves rugs.

Further reading

• "Touba and the Meaning of Night". The Complete Reviews. The Complete Reviews. Retrieved November 25, 2013.