Disoriental by Négar Djavadi

Négar Djavadi's Disoriental (French: Désorientale) is a 2016 French-language book published by Éditions Liana Levi [fr]. Tina Kover translated the novel into English, and Europa Editions released it in 2018. It was the author's first published novel.

It's the intergenerational saga of the Iranian Sadr family, recounted via the spinning thoughts of queer, fierce, punk protagonist Kimiâ as she waits in a Parisian reproductive clinic waiting room. It's a family narrative portrayed through a web of stories, experimenting with memory and the tangled knots of hearing a story from many different points of view without being there. She is the daughter of two academics who resisted the Shah's and subsequently Khomeini's regimes, and she escaped Iran with her mother and sisters when she was young, aiming for Paris. The protagonists' tales match Djavadi's, adding a piercing authenticity to the story and tone.

Translated by Tina A. Kover

Link to read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40170500