We chat with author Dora Levy Mossanen about her new release Love and War in the Jewish Quarter, which is a breathtaking journey across Iran where war and superstition, jealousy and betrayal, and passion and loyalty rage behind the impenetrable walls of mansions and the crumbling houses of the Jewish Quarter.
Hi, Dora! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I am an internationally acclaimed bestselling novelist of Harem, Courtesan, The Last Romanov, Scent of Butterflies, and Love and War in the Jewish Quarter, translated into numerous languages and distributed worldwide. I have been featured in various publications and media outlets, including Sh’ma, the Los Angeles Times, KCRW, Lilith, Radio Iran, Radio Russia, JWT, and have appeared on numerous television programs. My writings have been praised by many celebrated authors, among them: Amy Ephron, Steve Berry, Jonathan Kirsch, John Rechy, and Rabbi David Wolpe.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I was not aware of my passion for writing until I went back to school—a married woman with two young daughters. I wanted to become a journalist, or so I thought, and I was accepted to the school of Journalism at the University of Southern California. This, mind you, was at a time I had not yet learned how to type. At the end of the first semester, a professor, to whom I’ll be eternally grateful, having detected a talent I did not notice, directed me to the School of Professional Writing at USC. The rest is history. The moment I began writing my thesis, which ended being my first novel, Harem, I was an obsessed woman. I was so in love, the only time I was entirely present was when I was writing and in the world of my book.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first book I remember reading is Daphne De Maurie’s Rebekah, which does not mean I didn’t start reading way before I was nine years old, which is when I started reading Rebekah. But before then I remember reading comics that no longer exist, like Little Lulu.
A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I wanted to write like Marquez, give free reign to my imagination like Marquez, weave history, fantasy, and life together in a magical way like Marquez. I wanted to write with the freedom he writes, stretch the boundaries of belief until the reader suspends disbelief and is fully engaged in the life of the characters, no matter how outlandish they might be, which they really are in Marquez’s novel.
I’ve read Toni Morrison’s Beloved a few times. And each time, it bores deeper into my consciousness and breaks my heart all over again.
Your latest novel, Love and War in the Jewish Quarter, is out November 8th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Forbidden Love, Women Empowerment, War, Devotion, Prejudice.
What can readers expect?
Readers bring their own views and expectations to a book. But what I expect, and hope, is that Love and War in the Jewish Quarter will help energize the movement of the brave women of Iran, which began after the tragic death of the twenty-one-year-old Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested by the Islamic Morality Police because her hair was showing under her headscarf. I expect and hope that the voices of my brave characters in Love and War in the Jewish Quarter—Ruby, Velvet, Soleiman, and even Tulip, my kind-hearted eunuch—will join the rallying cry of Iranian women: “Woman! Life! Freedom!” and grow loud enough to bring about a radical change in Iran.
Where did the inspiration for Love and War in the Jewish Quarter come from?
The Inspiration for this book came from the memoir of my grandfather, Habib Levy. As well as, my familial history and the colorful cast of characters surrounding me, which are too irresistible to ignore. For example, how could I not write about my grandfather who was the dentist of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the king of Iran? The imposing king with the opium ravaged teeth, had summoned my grandfather to the royal court and had ordered him to recite the oath of Shahada and convert to Islam. It was the 1930s. Jews were believed to be Najes, or impure. Medical gloves, as we know them, were not invented and the rare ones that were available from France were thick and cumbersome and impossible to perform delicate dental work with. The king did not want the defiling hands of a Jew in his mouth. My grandfather had gifted me such a compelling story that I had to give it to Soleiman, my own Parisian educated dentist in Love and War in the Jewish Quarter, who like my grandfather, is ordered to convert by the second most powerful man in the country.
Can you tell us a bit about the challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
Love and War in the Jewish Quarter challenged me in a way my other novels did not.
When the Covid 19 Pandemic hit, I was in the last stages of finishing my novel. This was early 2020 and the virus was still a mystery, an invisible enemy no one knew what to make of. My husband was admitted to the hospital, and I was not allowed to visit. Facing the unknown, I became paralysed with fear and concern and could not write a word. For close to a year, I believed I’d never write again. That was a scary time.
What’s next for you?
Writing, by nature, is a solitary profession that takes long years of research, reflection, writing and rewriting, honing, and polishing. Next, is the promotional stage, which is where I am now. This requires a great shift in one’s mindset, which is somewhat difficult for me. If you’re asking me what my next book will be, I’ll reply: “I just delivered a six-year-old baby. Once I catch my breath, I let you know what comes next.”
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I enjoyed writing about the superstitious Aunt Shamsi, to whom I felt free to give every type of outlandish curse and superstitious belief I had researched or come across in my lifetime. I also loved creating the Quarter Fool, who has no filter and, to everyone else’s horror, has no qualms about spitting out truths that others are aware of, but will never voice.
Lastly, what have been some of your favourite 2022 reads? Any 2023 releases our readers should look out for?
Some of my favorite reads in 2022, although they were not necessarily published in 2022, were: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. The Promise by Damon Galgut. My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallentt , The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, Jack by Marilynne Robinson. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. The Water Dancer by TA Nehisi Coates.
