Set in Buenos Aires during the Falklands War, the Margaret thatcher School of Beauty is the story of a group of displaced Iranian refugees living in a decaying Beaux Arts building in the city centre.
the inhabitants of the building form an eclectic community: a sick ex-prisoner and his daughter, a promising medical student; a timid hairdresser; a newlywed couple with a dark past; a young revolutionary; an eccentric pilgrim of Mecca; and at the heart of the group Zadi Heirati, a single mother struggling to make ends meet at the beauty salon she operates from her apartment.
Drawn together by a revolution in their homeland, they begin to find solace in weekly poetry meetings. the words they share inspire each to turn inward and discover beauty long buried. As a new war unfolds in their adopted country, this group of disenchanted individuals begins to form a family. At once familiar and extraordinary, this moving story weaves disparate lives together into a tapestry of unique grace, wit and lyricism.
'Mehran is a sensually evocative writer... a joy to read' - Sydney Morning Herald
