read this pretty long back but just remembered about it. it was poignant but facile. the characters had no depth whatsoever. the beating heart of the book is the love and loss between our protagonists, but that IS it. the book is nothing but a heart, it doesn't evolve or make any observations. it's sad that a book set in Tehran seemed to be more of a pulp story than anything else. I was reading it on a trip and it disappointed me.