Neighbors

Nadamat lends his apartment to Shapour. Shapour intends to renovate and prepare it for Nadamat’s upcoming wedding.

Shapour does everything for Nadamat, working at his kiosk in Meerstøen and engaging in fraud and illegal activities. Marie lives in the apartment next door, and as they stand on their balconies smoking cheap cigarettes, Shapour falls in love with her at first sight, but his Norwegian is too weak to express his feelings. What he doesn’t know is that Marie hides her Iranian identity and her Persian language because she wants to avoid Iranian men who are constantly marrying. Both Shapour and Marie fled Tehran; they share similar backgrounds, but their lives and opportunities in their new home, Oslo, and in the same apartment complex, are vastly different.

Sudabeh Alishahi offers a nuanced and unpretentious look at the immigrant community, with a serious tone and a loving sense of humor. It’s an imperfect world, but even here, things often work out, in their own way.

and the translations are a collaborative effort between Norwegian writers Sheda Sangtarash and Siavash Sangtarash, and Alishahi herself. Her first novel, “Smile,” was published in 2015, followed by “A Beautiful Day Has Come” in 2020, and finally “Neighbors” in 2025.