Crafting stories
from the heart.
Sara Fashandi
ABOUT
Thank you for visiting my site.
I was born in Tehran, Iran and came to USA to attend college in 1977 right before the revolution. Big thanks to my mom who had a larger vision for her children-- higher education for a better life. I studied Biochemistry at The Ohio State University. Currently, I live in Northern CA.
In 2006, during a family reunion I stumbled upon my brother's fascinating life while he was growing up in Tehran. When I heard his stories, I felt that we lived in two different households for we were not as poor by the time I was born. I cried writing some of the stories, losing my 9month- old baby brother in a tragic way, or moving to the new house with little money. I laughed at other stories because of funny things my brother did when he fell in love with lovely girls in our neighborhood in his teens. The stories brought us closer to each other a million times more.
I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Sara Fashandi
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AWARD-WINNING NOVEL
Read my
Message in a Matchbox (2022)
It all started during our family reunion in the summer of 2006, when I discovered an invaluable treasure: my oldest brother's memories of growing up. His name is Mohsen, and he was born in Tehran, Iran, to poor, struggling young parents. As early as age six, he figured out how to be creative and make money to fill his empty stomach.
As he related his memories to me, I understood what had made him the fascinating, jovial, and hardworking man he has become. He has always had a calm confidence about him, as if he felt no need to impress anyone. He didn't have to. He had been through so much, that by the time he was twenty-three, he had lived a fuller life than most people ever experience.
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These stories are selections from Mohsen's many memories.
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WHAT READERS SAY
SUCH AN INSPIRATION
Message in a Matchbox” is a wonderful memoir of Mohsen Fashandi, the author’s older brother. This collection of his childhood memories is truly an inspiration which prove that you can accomplish incredible things in your life, with hard work and the right mindset. There is a good balance of some sad, some funny moments and it was clearly done as an expression of love. The way the stories were written, with details that engage all of the senses, help transport the reader into Mohsen’s childhood. I highly recommend this book!
LIVELY AND INSPIRING
As American as Benjamin Franklin, Iranian immigrant Mohsen Fashandi used his wits, intelligence, and capacity for invention to survive and get ahead. In these engaging stories, his much younger sister Sara mines Mohsen’s memories of their family in Iran and what motivated her siblings, including herself, to emigrate to the US for higher degrees. Message in a Matchbox: Memories of a Childhood in Tehran is a lively and inspiring book you won’t be able to put down.
MOTIVATIONAL, ENTERTAINING, INSIGHTFUL, AND A JEWEL OF A READ!
I can honestly say this book left me feeling impowered and with the profound sense that I can overcome any adversity in life. The book will draw you in with it's gradual introduction into thie main character's childhood. You will experience the joys and heart aches of the characters and come to love them. Sara Fashandi has done a marvelous job of presenting her brother's memories in beautiful prose. The final chapter left me in tears....good tears from deep inside myself. Hmmmm! The resilience of the human soul!