One Book, One Tulsa

Q&A with Central Library Adult Services Manager Heather Lozano

Tell us about this year’s featured book and its author. 

The Lion Women of Tehran is a coming-of-age story that follows two young women, Ellie and Homa, in Iran from the 1950s to the 1980s. It explores the ways their lives diverged during Iran's westernization and, later, the Islamic Revolution. Over three decades, we see how their friendship grows and changes alongside Iran's changing political and cultural landscape. The author, Marjan Kamali, is such a warm and engaging person, so I am really looking forward to interviewing her!

What themes of this novel might make is resonate with Tulsa readers?

The way we change and grow and how our friendships evolve over time is a relatable experience to most adults. I think it’s interesting to explore how political and cultural changes affect our relationships as well. 

What kinds of conversations do you hope this book will spark?

I hope people will use this book to explore their own relationships and friendships and how they have changed and evolved over time. I think its also interesting to consider how our communities shape our growth. Further, think it's interesting to examine who/what action constitutes a "Lion". What makes someone bold, impactful or strong?

What did you like most about this book? 

To me, a good book is one that makes me think deeper or want to learn more. Marjan Kamali is such an evocative writer. She has written about a country I've never lived in, but I can still relate to the characters and learn from how they navigate difficult experiences. 

What do you hope readers will take from this book or event?

I hope it inspires us to examine the similarities among aspects of the human experience across time and cultures. I also hope that it helps us connect and relate to our Iranian neighbors as we learn about their history from the perspective of the two main characters, Ellie and Homa.

What impact has OBOT had in past years? Are there memorable moments or community stories that stand out?

Personally, I learn a lot during each event, either about my community or about the author's writing process. In 2023, when Michelle Zauner came and spoke about her book Crying in H Mart, we hosted a dancer who performed a janggu and hansam – two styles of Korean dance. After the performance, a customer came to me with tears in her eyes and expressed how much it meant to her to see her community celebrated.

As a community, we created an embroidered quilt in celebration of Calling for a Blanket Dance, our 2024 featured book. The author, Oscar Hokeah, found the project very moving – and he even posted it on his social media! Last year, we took Mateo Askaripour, author of This Great Hemisphere, on a tour of the Greenwood Rising Museum. He took great interest in our community and was deeply touched by the experience. He even addressed its impact during his presentation.

Click here to check out a copy of the book or place a hold.

Book description:

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.”

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.

Q&A with Marjan Kamali

What are you most looking forward to about One Book, One Tulsa?

I am looking forward to meeting readers and experiencing the connection and community that a program like One Book, One Tulsa creates. At a time when so many people feel overwhelmed and isolated, there is something deeply meaningful about being able to come together and to reflect on and engage with what unites us. I’m especially excited to meet members of the Tulsa community, to listen to their stories as well as share my own, and to witness how fiction brings us together.

What does it mean to you to have The Lion Women of Tehran selected for One Book, One Tulsa?

It means the world to me to have The Lion Women of Tehran selected for One Book, One Tulsa. At its heart, this is a story of friendship and the ties that bind us across cultures and circumstances. In these difficult times when the state of our world is in so much confusion and division, to have the story of two girls from Iran featured can remind us of our shared humanity and all that we have in common. I believe in building bridges and embracing and celebrating all that connects us. By having my book read by the wonderful readers of the Tulsa community, I feel collective discussions and deeper understanding can take place and I value that deeply.

To learn more about Marjan, visit her website.

Use this discussion guide to help deepen your understanding of the novel. 
Warning: these questions contain spoilers. 

1. The book opens from Ellie’s point of view in 1980s New York City. What are some observations she has about the city? What does this tell you about how she sees herself there? Discuss how she describes New York in the first chapter and in Part Five compared to how she describes Tehran. What are the differences?
2. How would you describe the city of Tehran during Ellie and Homa’s childhoods? What feelings does it invoke? How was Tehran different for both girls before they lived in the same neighborhood?
3. Ellie’s mother has an obsession with the evil eye. Where do you believe this originates? What effect do you think this has on Ellie’s mother’s outlook on life, and how might it affect Ellie as she grows up?
4. Ellie spends much of her childhood mourning her father’s death. How does her image of him compare to the man Ellie’s mother reveals him to be later in the book? How does Ellie’s relationship with her mother change once she finds out? How does this help explain Ellie’s mother’s actions throughout the book?
5. How would you describe how Ellie’s mother thinks of Homa? Why do you think she feels this way? How does this foreshadow what happens later in the book?
6. Seven years pass between Part One and Part Two, and we find Ellie at an upscale school in a nice neighborhood with a new group of friends. How has her life changed, and how have her relationships changed, or stayed the same?
7. Describe the role politics in Iran plays throughout the book. How does it propel the plot forward? Does is function as a main character? How do the characters interact with politics, and how does it shape their futures?
8. Two themes of the book are betrayal and jealousy. How was this explored throughout the book (i.e. between characters, through the setting, between social classes, in politics, etc.)? Were there instances of betrayal that surprised you?
9. Homa’s experience in prison devastated her plans and set her on a new trajectory for the rest of her life. What might have happened if she was not imprisoned? How might her life have turned out differently? Would Homa and Ellie have remained friends?
10. Part Four opens from Homa’s point of view. How are her and Ellie’s voices different? Discuss how the author uses shifting points of view as a plot device and what it adds to the narrative.
11. Homa talks about growing up to be “lion women” throughout the book. How would you describe “lion women,” and how do Homa and Ellie understand the idea? How might it apply to women in general?
12. Discuss the romantic relationships throughout the book. Mehrdad and Ellie, Homa and Abdol, Ellie’s mother and Ellie’s baba, Ellie’s mother and Uncle Massoud, Sousan and the Colonel, and so on. How do these relationships demonstrate gender and societal norms in Iran from the 1950s to the 1980s? Do any of them subvert traditional gender roles? How?
13. The author explores the bonds between mother and daughter throughout the book. Discuss the mother-daughter relationships for each character and what they have in common.
14. In the final chapter and epilogue, we fast forward to 2022 and find out that Homa remained in Iran to fight for women’s freedoms, and Ellie followed her dream of opening an Iranian cafe in America. How do these two women embody what it means to be Lion Women? How do they reflect on their pasts, and what do you think their hopes are for their futures?

Check out a Book Club Kit to host your own bookclub!

Each kit includes ...

•  8 copies of The Lion Women of Tehran (five regular print and three large print).
• a discussion guide.
• a read-alike guide.
• a cookbook.
• Iranian treats for sampling.
• one box of Persian tea.

Kits can be checked out for one month.

After you read the book, host a discussion at your house, your favorite coffee shop or at one of our meeting rooms. Click here to learn more and book a meeting room.

Click here to view recipes from the book, available for download on the left side of the webpage.

Download an adult coloring page inspired by this year's selection!

• Mandala coloring page
• The Lion Women of Tehran cover coloring page

Q&A with Central Library Adult Services Manager Heather Lozano

Why is One Book, One Tulsa important to Tulsa County?

One Book, One Tulsa is important because it offers the opportunity to read one book and come together as a community to discuss the important themes and topics found in the books we choose each year.

How does reading the same book build community?

Reading about the experiences, cultures and stories of our neighbors is an enriching process that helps us learn more about the people we interact with every day. Plus, the One Book, One Tulsa event is a great way to find an interesting book, chosen for its literary merit, and have the unique opportunity to hear directly from the author who wrote it! 

2025: This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour 

2024: Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah

2023: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

2022: Circe by Madeline Miller

2021: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

2020: Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

2019: All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung

2018: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

2017: no event

2016: The Soloist by Steve Lopez

2015: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

2014: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2013: House of Earth by Woody Guthrie

2012: Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry