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Women Without Men

Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026

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Women Without Men

By: Shahrnush Parsipur, Faridoun Farrokh - translator
Narrated by: Tara Fatehi
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The internationally acclaimed masterpiece from one of Iran's most influential writers - a powerful and essential tale of female freedom

Women Without Men traces the interwoven destinies of five women – including a wealthy middle-aged housewife, a sex worker and a schoolteacher – as they arrive by different paths to live together in an abundant garden on the outskirts of Tehran.

Drawing on elements of Islamic mysticism and recent Iranian history, this unforgettable novel depicts women escaping the narrow confines of family and society, and imagines their future living in a world without men.

Translated from Persian by Faridoun Farrokh

© Shahrnush Parsipur 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Iran
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It's an incredible imaginative story that made me laugh heartily and love the women in the story, the writer, her mother, cousin, and the women she writes about dearly. I know I'll listen to it again and again. The audio book performance is brilliant!

Hilarious, imaginative

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Tara Fatehi has done a fantastic job with the narration. I usually listen to audiobooks at a faster speed, but with this one, I genuinely wanted to follow her original pace, tone, and pauses. Her delivery was so engaging that it never felt slow for a moment.

Narration!

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