Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian - 5 Star Review! | PRIDE Month

June 29, 2023
Posted by Rachel Lacov
- 0 comments

Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A poignant story of love and loss, blood ties and found family. In this multi-generational tale taking place in Los Angeles, California and Tehran, Iran spanning 80 years of family history, we follow three young men as they come of age in their respective times, falling in and out of love and dealing with personal and cultural conflict.

The story begins in 2019 with Moud and Saeed, an out gay teen and his aloof, unsupportive father. They leave LA in the States to visit Moud’s ailing grandfather Bobby in Tehran. There, Moud learns more about where he comes from, the political struggles plaguing his family’s native country, and some secrets about his family that change his current view of his own relationships.

We move to a time in the not-so-distant past, 1978 Tehran, with Saeed as a young man and strong-willed activist seeking to change the failings of his country’s government. He’s not looking for love but finds it, and falls hard, only to have it ripped away. His political involvement has put his family and himself in danger and he must flee to America to live with his estranged grandmother he knows nothing about. He discovers information about his family and past that he never would have guessed, profoundly changing the trajectory of his life.

Then we travel back to 1939 Los Angeles, and the golden age of Hollywood. We are introduced to a very young and naive Bobby and his ruthless stage mom. While Bobby strives to pursue a career in the limelight and keep his homosexuality a secret, he combats feelings of love, betrayal, loneliness and pride as he learns self-acceptance with the help of mentors and community.

In addition to the narrative, the author shows us some true history regarding the political situation in Iran, which was very interesting to me. I fully admit I was unaware of the civil unrest there, as well as the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. This, of course, parallels with the gay underground movement the author depicts in the 1939 LA sections of the book. It’s telling to see the similarities between these different times and cultures, and how they relate to our current political landscape in America. As we all know, if we obfuscate or deny our past mistakes, we are doomed to repeat history, as we are seeing now.

Overall, the author brilliantly transitions from each time period and point of view. Sometimes these multi-POV stories get confusing or feel like someone is lacking, but not so here. I felt deeply for each character, their pain and longing evident throughout. The story has sad moments, but I wouldn’t give it a snot-bomb warning. The characters are endearing and you want to root for them.

I highly recommend this book and you should read it if the story is appealing to you. I think this is one people will be looking at and you will hear about it again.