In life, everyone has a Holy Grail they pursue: be it something intangible – like happiness or success – or something tangible – like money or a cottage to retire to in Cornwall. In The Quince Seed Potion, by Morteza Baharloo, Sarveali Jokar’s Holy Grail is the object of the title – a potion that will cure him of his physical and psychological ills.
The story begins in Iran as the Islamic Revolution of 1979 approaches. Following a difficult early childhood, Sarveali is sold to a wealthy family of rural landowners, which actually turns out to be the best thing that could’ve happened to him. Sarveali becomes the personal servant of the youngest son of the Shirlu Kahns, and dedicates himself fully to the needs of his young master.
Marriage brings only pain to Sarveali, as was predicted for him by a fortune-teller. While her sexual activities with Sarveali’s master make him proud that he can provide for all his master’s needs, he is driven to extreme measures when he discovers she has been cuckolding him with several other male servants, and that her activities are known throughout the Kahn’s estate.
As Sarveali falls in and out of trouble, he is rescued from consequences of his actions by the Shirlu Kahn family time and again due to his importance. Sarveali, though bumbling in his own life’s affairs, is an essential servant. And his uncle, father of the wife he murdered, is greedy enough to accept great payments from the Shirlu Kahn’s to drop the charges and allow Sarveali to go free. But as soon as Sarveali is freed from one prison, he enters another: opium addiction.
Sarveali’s life ebbs and flows between times of great joy and of great sorrows. But tied closely to his tale is the Islamic Revolution that destroys the power of the country’s Kahns, taking their riches to distribute among “the people.”
Baharloo has used a restrained hand in holding up the quince seed potion as metaphor for Sarveali’s psychological quest for peace within himself – something some authors tend to over-emphasize. This novel is a fascinating tale, set during a tumultuous time in the world’s history.
241 pgs.
This is Baharloo's first novel.
