Where Saffron Grows

For fans of Funny in Farsi and Born a Crime, language lovers, and anyone carving out a life in the in-between, a cross-cultural memoir—spanning Iran, France, the United States, and Switzerland—that traces one woman’s journey from exile to reinvention.

What does it mean to belong everywhere and nowhere at once?

When six-year-old Négar Chahkhalili flees revolutionary Tehran, she leaves behind not just a country but also a sensory world of language, food, and family that continues to shape her life from afar. As she starts over in exile—first at Catholic school in the South of France, later at university in Paris and Boston, and eventually raising a family in Switzerland—she navigates cultures, languages, and layered identities.

This is a story of displacement and belonging—of what it means to carry home within you, even at a distance. With wit, warmth, and self-deprecating humor, Chahkhalili captures the experience of living between worlds and adapting to new cultural codes while trying to preserve a connection to one’s origins. A perfect choice for readers who loved Persepolis and Americanah, this lyrical memoir of migration, identity, and the enduring pull of one’s roots across continents offers a rich, immersive journey through place, language, and self.