Derakhte Golabi (The Pear Tree)

This tale mostly transpires in the late '40s, which in Iran was a brief respite between World War II and the political crisis of the early '50s. After a contemporary intro in which Mahmoud, a celebrated middle-aged writer, paces around his country villa snared by writer's block, the story flashes back to a memory that eventually sets his creative juices flowing again. At the age of 11, Mahmoud is awkward, lacking in confidence and completely in thrall to a self-possessed female cousin three years his senior. Referred to only by her first initial, M, she's halfway between tomboy and major-league beauty, and displays a certain bemused cruelty in the power she exercises over her smitten relative.