During a wedding celebration, Jamil, the sole heir of a rich landowner, meets and falls in love with Naji, who sells grass for a living. The novel follows the boys’ escape from their village to a neighboring city and beyond in the hopes of finding a place where they can be together freely. Even as their love evolves, their strong connection remains, which helps see them through the upheavals of the Islamic Revolution and the Iran–Iraq War.
In Boys of Love, Ghazi Rabihavi offers both a universal story about the ups and downs of love and a clear-eyed portrait of same-sex desire and relationships in Iran, where homosexuality remains punishable by death. Banned in Iran, the novel was initially published in Farsi in the UK, then translated into French and shortlisted for the Prix Médicis Étranger. Rabihavi avoids both lasciviousness and exoticism in depicting a deep love between male characters living through the Iranian Cultural Revolution. Ultimately, this story challenges preconceived notions about marginalized communities in the Middle East.
