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.

Mitra’s mother, Noosha, owns Alley of Scented Roses, a flower shop and a rose garden in Dandenong, Melbourne. Noosha has experimented in her rose workshop for many years to find the perfect recipe for a distinctive Persian rose attar. A year ago, she received a marriage proposal from Dariush Keshavarz, a poet who helps to run the local Persian bookshop. He is persistent. However, despite her feelings for him, Noosha’s dealings with men in the past make her fearful of accepting his marriage proposal. Noosha’s single-minded ambition to create a fragrance of mystical beauty and maintain her heritage blocks her ability to connect with her daughter.

All the while, Noosha, her staff, and Mitra are deep in preparation for the floral decoration for Rana’s wedding. During this week of preparation, Mira finds her life becoming increasingly intertwined with the comings and goings of her mother’s flower business, as well as with the lives of the women who work there, including Bibi, a witty character who loves country music and dance meditation; and Pari, a young refugee who struggles to deal with her violent father. There is also the elderly Khanoum Bordari, a wise and esteemed Persian elder and Noosha’s regular customer, who treats Mitra like a daughter.

After meeting with Rana, Mitra discovers that her friend does not intend to marry Babak, the man chosen by her mother, Shiva. Instead, Rana plans to escape the marriage if she can only figure out how to avoid the wrath of her domineering parents. Rana asks Mitra to help her carry out her plan to run away during the wedding ceremony and marry her true lover, Hamid.

Coming to Melbourne allows Mitra to escape New York, her failing marriage, and the blank page that taunts her. Once there, she is swept up into the world of her mother and her secrets. She renews and strengthens a forgotten childhood friendship and becomes embroiled in a scandalous plot to alter the fate of a pretentious Persian wedding. Soon, she allows herself to open up again to her writing and marriage. In a renewed flow of creativity, she manifests a novel, not the one she had dreamed of, but the lyrical, allusive Alley of Scented Roses—the first step toward creating her masterpiece.

After interacting with and observing her daughter’s growth, Noosha can open herself up to love, which leads her to discover the recipe for her unique attar. With Mitra’s help, Rana avoids entrapment in a society marriage and instead weds her soul mate. The women of the Alley of Scented Roses succeed in authoring their fates, rising above adversity, and writing their happy endings. view abbreviated excerpt only...

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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