Book Review: Veil of Roses—A Love Story Across Borders
Tami’s emotional journey to find love, belonging, and herself in an unfamiliar world.
Note: Minor Spoilers Ahead!
Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald is the first novel in a two-novel series about Iranian woman Tamila “Tami” Soroush, who goes to America to find a new life and freedom. The book was first published on January 1st, 2007, by Bantam Dell, which is now part of Random House. Veil of Roses was such a success that Fitzgerald eventually wrote a sequel in 2010 titled Dreaming in English but this book review focuses on the first novel, Veil of Roses.
Plot
The first book, Veil of Roses, by Laura Fitzgerald, is the story of Iranian woman Tamila “ Tami” Soroush, who travels from Iran to America in a quest for freedom and love. Her parents send her to America on a one-way ticket to America. Tami has 90 days to find a husband before her visa runs out. From new experiences, a completely different world, and a forbidden love, Tami’s journey is far from easy.
What I liked about the book?
I liked the relationship that Tami had with her sister and brother-in-law because I think it’s so true to life where one person is more about the rules and keeping discipline in the house while the other is more relaxed and carefree. In this story, Tami’s sister Maryam was all about the rules and following the rules because she promised their parents that they’d get Tami married before her visa expired, while her brother-in-law Ardishir was more about going with the flow and letting Tami experience life in America. I loved this relationship because it made for many comedic moments throughout the story.
I loved how they showed Tami’s English class and the friendships she made in her class. I loved her relationship with the German immigrant Eva because they were sort of an opposites-attract kind of friendship, with Tami being more sheltered and naive while Eva was more worldly and more open to trying the daring aspects of life. I love how they used this friendship to show the difference in worldview.
There’s this powerful scene where they talk about the book’s version of Iran’s policy of women not being allowed to sit in the front of the train and how Eva started talking about Rosa Parks and how Rosa Parks’ defiance sparked a movement that eventually led to the law being changed but what Eva didn’t understand is that circumstances were different in Iran versus America and how even the most well-meaning people can unintentionally offend due to a lack of understanding of cultural differences.
I loved the different cultures that Tami encountered in her class, with her friends being from Russia, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, and Peru , showing just how diverse the United States how many people come every year to settle and make a new life in the U.S.
I also loved how the book showed Tami’s linguistic journey as she gets more comfortable with U.S. life because there’s this scene at the beginning of the book where Tami doesn’t know what the word free means and thinks that she’s going to end up arrested, which shows a lack of knowledge about how life works in the U.S. and it contrasts with the end where Tami herself makes reference to an American movie, showing how she’s become integrated with the U.S. culture over time.
Finally, I liked how the main relationship between Tami and Ike progressed throughout the book. Their first interaction happened after Tami thought she was being arrested for not paying for a free drink and Ike explained what free meant. Their relationship then slowly progressed into a sort of friendship, with Ike offering Tami rides on his motorbike, offering her gifts, and teaching her American pop culture references, which eventually turned into love between the two characters, which was inconvenient because Tami’s original purpose of marriage stated that she had to marry a Persian man, and Ike was American.
This was the only downside of this relationship because Tami was not honest with Ike about needing to marry a man in order to stay in the U.S. and Ike only found out because of Tami’s older sister Maryam, but other than that, I loved their relationship and how sweet and understanding Ike was when it came to Tami trying to figure out life in America.
What I didn’t like about the book?
I didn’t like the way the book discussed Islam because while they referenced Islamic values and customs, the book made it seem as though the religion itself were a prison because Tami seemed to completely abandon anything that was remotely resembling Islam; there was no mention of prayer or any of the goodness of Islam except for showing how the book’s version of Islam twisted the religion into something that was not true.
Along with the same theme, I didn’t like how quickly she completely abandoned all her roots. I get that she was trying to move to a new country and assimilate to American culture and society but usually people assimilate without completely losing sight of their roots. People carry both with them and I know from my own experiences, even having never grown up in Pakistan but having parents who did, I still carry some of Pakistan with me. I still wear clothing and like some of the culture and customs, whereas Tami saw Iran as a burden and as something to escape.
In the books, it almost seemed like Tami wanted to run from her roots. The author presents an unfair dichotomy of America being this great land of freedom and prosperity while Iran is presented as the epitome of a restricted life. I’ve never been to Iran and so I can’t comment on the depiction of Iran but I feel now that the book has so much emphasis on America being the greatest country on earth and having to assimilate to American customs by any means possible, even if it means abandoning all your roots.
I mentioned this before but I didn’t like how Tami didn’t tell Ike the true reason why she was in America. I know that she was scared and didn’t know how to broach the topic but I feel like in the context of the story, she should have told him and it shouldn’t have been up to her older sister Maryam to tell him for her because the true reason why she was in America was such a big secret that was a shadow over their otherwise sweet and wholesome relationship development.
Overall Thoughts
This was a decent love story. I loved Tami’s journey to the U.S. and her relationships with her sister, brother-in-law, and friends. I also liked how Tami and Ike’s relationship progressed over time, and I felt that it was natural and not forced. However, I didn’t like how Tami neglected to tell Ike about her real reason for coming to the U.S. I also think that while the book was trying to delve into Islamic themes, it didn’t really work because Tami seemed to see Islam as something to escape because she tied it to her culture of Iran when it’s so much more than that. I’m also not sure if the author’s interpretation of Iran is accurate because I’ve never been. So in terms of a love story, this one is a sweet cross-cultural story that is a light read but in terms of learning about Islam and Iranian culture, it’s not the best.
I’d rate this book a 3/5 because it has good character relationships both in terms of romantic relationships and other types such as sibling, friend, neighbor, etc., and a sympathetic main character who had relatable struggles when it came to moving to a different country, but I didn’t like its depiction of Islam or Iranian culture nor did I like how quickly Tami abandoned all of her roots in order to settle into life in America.
I’d read it again for the love story and for the character relationships but as a cross-cultural book, it’s lacking in some major areas.
Have you ever read this book? Let me know in the comments. If not, have you read any other books that talk about moving countries? If so, share a few titles in the comments!
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