Veils: Short Stories - Tapa blanda

The ten stories in Veils take place in present-day Iran or in the United States where Iranian immigrants face alien ways. Teheran's ancient Ghanat Abad Avenue, with its labyrinth of narrow streets and alleys, loosely links the stories into a single narrative: some residents leave as soon as they can, others can live nowhere else. The men and women in these spare and sensuous narratives who are caught in the confusing whirl of changing cultures sometimes meet with failure but more often transcend difficult circumstances to gain deeper self-knowledge.

Nahid Rachlin is the Iranian-American author of four novels, short stories, and essays. She teaches at New School University and the Unterberg Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y, New York City.