Introduction

Inspired by Marsha Mehran’s writings and as a tribute to her achievement, the lyrical allusive Alley of Scented Roses is embellished with the mesmerising beauty of Australian flowers, imbued with the intoxicating aroma of the Persian rose attar, and infused with humour, humanity, and affection. It explores the magical power of flowers and the miraculous consequences of women working together. It is packed with captivating stories of friendship, family, trauma, and triumph. Mitra Johnson, a successful young writer, lives in New York with her husband, Benjamin. Mitra’s childhood friend, Rana, is forced by her wealthy parents to marry the son of another rich Iranian in Melbourne. There will be a flashy and pretentious Persian wedding at her parents’ mansion, but she loves another man. Rana has implored Mitra to come and help with her plan to escape the wedding.

Mitra’s mother, Noosha, owns the Alley of Scented Roses, a lively and vibrant flower shop, and a rose garden in Dandenong. She and her staff are cheerfully preparing flower arrangements to artistically beautify and glorify Rana’s bridal hammam and wedding party.

When Mitra reluctantly returns to Melbourne, she tries to hide from her critical mother that her husband has left her, and she has writer’s block and can’t write anymore.

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Excerpt

Alley of Scented Roses is an engaging and uplifting tale of a gifted and successful young writer, Mitra Johnson, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her web designer husband, Benjamin. For the last two years, she has struggled to write her epic dream novel about truth, love, and beauty. When she reluctantly returns to Melbourne to attend an extravagant wedding of her childhood friend, Rana, she tries to ignore that she has two daunting problems: her husband has left her, and due to a severe case of writer’s block, not a page of her dream book is completed. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. Why do you think the author set Alley of Scented Roses in Dandenong, Australia, instead of Ireland, where his daughter, Marsha, died?

2. Why did Mitra keep rejecting any suggestions about the subject of her book and keep thinking about writing her dream novel?

3. Why did Noosha decide to judge the purity and quality of the rose attar produced in her rose workshop based on her olfactory memory rather than the real rose attar in the small bottle inherited from her mother?

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