perFICTIONists

For All Kindred Spirit SoulCollagers
Who Love Meaningful,
Thought-Provoking Fiction


No commitment necessary…
Come to one, all or just a few of our Zoom sessions. This is different from ordinary book club discussions!

Our Zoom gatherings will include screen sharing, large group discussion, writing or creativity prompts, and possible breakout-room sharing. We’ll also utilize SoulCollageĀ® references and processes that will enable us to reflect on the personal meaning that each novel has for us.

Ā Explorations led by Anne Marie Bennett & Guest Facilitators.
Join us if you feel so led!Ā 
Zoom links will be in your member weekly issues of Soul Treasures.

The perFICTIONists gatherings are for KaleidoSoul Kindred Spirits members only.Ā  If you’re already a member, you’ll see the Zoom info in your weekly issues of Soul Treasures.Ā  If you’re NOT a member yet, you can join Kindred Spirits here.

Our Next perFICTIONists Gathering

Wednesday January 22, 2025
5-6
PM Eastern
Live in a different time zone?Ā  Check your start time here.

fb lion womenThe Lion Women of Tehran
by Marjan Kamali

From the nationally bestselling author of the “powerful, heartbreaking” (Shelf Awareness) The Stationery Shop, a heartfelt, epic new novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.”

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.

Written with Marjan Kamali’s signature “evocative, devastating, and hauntingly beautiful” (Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light) prose, The Lion Women of Tehran is a sweeping exploration of how profoundly we are shaped by those we meet when we are young, and the way love and courage transforms our lives.

Find It On Bookshop.org (supporting independent bookstores)

Find it on Amazon

Find it on Goodreads

How to Prepare

1. What to Bring

  • Journal and pen
  • Any favorite quotes from the book
  • Any SoulCollage cards or images that pertain to the themes in the book, or to how the book made you feel

2.Ā  Discussion points and questions

This page has some questions for you to think about as you read (or after you read!).lion women

A video interview with the author about The Lion Women of Tehran.

A fascinating written interview with the author about her previous book, The Stationary Shop (also recommended)

Group Norms

  • Sessions will start on time, so please do plan to Zoom in 5 minutes early so you don’t miss out!
  • Sessions will run between 60-90 minutes, depending on the book.
  • There will be no formal breaks, but feel free to step away on your own as needed
  • Come ready to share and listen.
  • Make your best effort to complete the book, but know that it’s okay to join us even if you haven’t.
  • Sessions wonā€™t be recorded and will not be available after the live event.

Discussion Etiquette

  • Direct your comments to the group, not just the moderators; back-and-forth exchanges with each other are encouraged.
    The One Who Loves to Read
  • Differences of opinion can be healthy and are to be expected.
  • We can agree to disagree and respect each other’s opinions.
  • Oprah, who knows a bit about book clubs, emphasizes that such gatherings are not therapy. While life experiences influence your interpretation of what you read and what you share, our purpose is to examine the novel, not your psyche.

Please do:

  • Aim to have a good time!
  • Use ā€œIā€ language when sharing.
  • Sharing is voluntary but encouraged.
  • Pay attention to suggested response times when sharing.
  • Support your opinions with reasons why or details from the book.
  • Respect othersā€™ opinions.
  • Feel safe to disagree, but politely and tactfully.
  • Debate points in nonjudgmental ways.
  • Stay on topic.
  • Aim to have a good time!

    Please donā€™t:

  • Interrupt or talk over others.
  • Monopolize the conversation or ramble on.
  • Criticize or make wrong the opinions of others

The perFICTIONists gatherings are for KaleidoSoul Kindred Spirits members only. If you’re already a member, you’ll see the Zoom info in your weekly issues of Soul Treasures. If you’re NOT a member yet, you can join Kindred Spirits here.

Upcoming 2025 perFICTIONist Discussions

January- The Lion Women of Tehran, by Marjan Kamali
April- Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
July-
October-

 

Looking for Something ELSE to Read?
Here’s what we discussed in previous years…

2021

The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix Harrow
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey, by Rachel Joyce
Calling Me Home, by Julie Kibler
Illuminations, by Mary Sharratt

 

2022

Wish You Were Here, by Jodi Picoult
Brave Girl, Quiet Girl, by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
We Are Not Like Them, by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

 

2023

Bernice Runs Away, by Talya Tate Boerner
The Measure, by Nikki Erlick
Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
The Book of Longings, by Sue Monk Kidd

 

2024

When Women Were Dragons, by Kelly Barnhill
The Collected Regrets of Clover, by Mikki Brammer
The Matchmaker’s Gift, by Lynda Cohen Loigman
The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune