KILLING GILDA | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

“At once a story of love, culture, politics, and a changing world, its rare ability to entertain and educate on a deeper level than most Persian fiction makes it highly recommendable to a wide audience, from thriller and international intrigue readers to those seeking an involving story of Iranian affairs and the real-world Gilda who inspired this story, an intersection of historical fact and reinvented lives that proves utterly compelling and hard to put down as it follows Iran’s entry into modern times.” –Midwest Book Review

A beautiful nineteen-year-old named Gilda becomes the mistress of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. She dreams of becoming his wife. The narrator, in love with Gilda, follows clues about her death two years after the affair.

During an assassination attempt on the Shah, he gets shot on the steps of the Marble Palace. As he puts it, "I took a bullet for my king up the ass and got a jester's seat, the best seat, to watch the fall of the Persian Empire."

Killing Gilda is infused with intrigue, but at its heart, it's a love story that follows the best traditions of classics like The Beauty and the Beast. We enter the rarified atmosphere of the court, the young woman's life, and the reasons for her death. We follow the characters through the Paris of Madame Claude, the Shah's ski resort at St. Moritz, and Doctor Pitanguy's plastic surgery clinic in Baden Baden.

The story, with its scheming characters and rare glimpses into Shah's private life, eschews easy labels. The Shah's sexual adventurism didn't stop his liberal policies for women's rights.

Killing Gilda is the story of a woman trapped in a gilded cage. And it's a compelling portrait of a royal dynasty whose fall has profoundly impacted the modern world. The recent women’s protests in Iran will heighten interest in the book. To K*ll is an action. Killing is a process. Killing Gilda is one woman’s story trapped in a gilded cage. 

Yahya Gharagozlou is joining us on the Busboys stage to dive deeper into this novel, and the stories and experiences that inspired it. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Gharagozlou will be signing following the program.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of KILLING GILDA will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed. 

We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books

Yahya Gharagozlou - Born in Iran, the author earned an MFA from the University of New Hampshire. He has published short stories in the Kenyon Review and Massachusetts Review. The novel 1001: Persiranian Stories of Love and Revenge was a critical success.

Host or Publisher Busboys and Poets