In ‘News of OCs’ in the 2015 ‘Old Cranleighan’ (on page 63) we reported on Jonathan Rush’s novel ‘My Persian Girl’. Here Jonathan (2 North, 1965-67) describes the genesis for his novel:
Ignoring warnings that I would fall between two genres, in 2007 I self published a love story and Islamic political thriller called My Persian Girl, which drew heavily on personal experience. Let me explain: in 1978 I accepted a job in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Little did I know that my wife, Jenny, and I were walking into a gathering whirlwind. Despite its ancient civilisation, exemplified by the glorious Islamic architecture in Isfahan, Iran like all Middle East countries, I suppose, was a simmering, corrupt kettle of religious, class, tribal and ethnic animosity. Take the lid off and your hand gets burnt. Recent disastrous interventions by the West into Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya illustrate my point.
At the end of 1978 the world’s first Islamic revolution, in modern times, started. A mystical, and to Western and some Iranian eyes, medieval, religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeni, toppled the Shah in early 1979. The revolution could not have been successful without the support of much of Iran’s educated middle class: teachers, engineers, technicians, doctors, and lawyers. A fair proportion of them were women – one of the good achievements of the Shah was the education of girls. But fed up with the corruption and harsh regime of the Shah and his family, the middle class now looked to a religious leader who seemed to offer a fairer and more honest alternative. The Shah and many of the wealthy fled and we expatriates were evacuated. In our case to Cyprus where one of my last memories was of a distraught Englishman pacing around the hotel swimming pool. He had been persuaded to leave Tehran by his Iranian wife’s family who were terrified for her safety if he remained. Now he was desperate to rescue her and their children from the maelstrom sweeping the country.
Many years later in 2003 I survived a life-threatening illness and the doctors recommended that as part of my rehabilitation I use my brain. Don’t laugh.
Writing a book seemed an obvious choice. But what subject? That’s when I remembered the haunted look of despair in the eyes of my compatriot as he walked around the hotel pool. My Persian Girl was the result. Although a short book, it took about four years to complete because I only wrote during my summer holidays. The book was found to be a real page-turner by the couple of hundred who bought it (which is not bad for the first book by an unknown author) and received positive reviews in a variety of magazines. Now available on Kindle, there is constant trickle of sales. A Los Angeles-based writer has written a screenplay so, who knows, it might someday be coming to a screen near you.
Jonathan is busy writing his second book. His spare time is mainly taken up by his duties as a Chiltern District councillor where he sits on the planning and chairs the licensing committees.