Liquid by Mariam Rahmani

 ´My life has ended with the PhD´.

Disillusioned about her academic lack of accomplishment and burgeoisie surrounding her, the unnamed female character of Mariam Rahmani´s debut Liquid is decided to marry rich. 90+ dates into her plan, she is far from reaching her aim - but also the dates are mathematically counted, without any relationship consistency. Rich or not, if you really want to marry, you may need something more than few minutes/hours into the encounter.Or?

Then, her father had a heart attack and she travels to Tehran where she is spending few months until and a bit after the death of her father. Here, she puts the project on hold, is dating a woman and is considering to stay, but will leave in the end.

This second part, happening in Tehran, is mostly mirroring the opposition to US sanctions, which limits the capability of the local medical system, but there is some local context lacking that may give some realistic background to the story. I mean, we can all search by ourselves to understand the context, but it might have helped. Like, the character was a bit surprised to not see too much public awareness in Tehran about Forough Farrokhzad, but who may not allow it and why? You don´t have to write political novels, but a bit of context helps. Always.

The book starts with a promise that is not greatly respected, and it goes instead into another plot, which lacks some consistency. Literarly disappointed, I dare to say, although I´ve enjoyed the wording and some twists of ideas.

I had access to the book in the audiobook format, read by the author.

Rating: 3 stars