Natani (Persian: ناتنی nâtani) is a 2004 Persian-language romance novel by Iranian American writer and scholar Mehdi Khalaji about the life of the son of an Ayatollah growing up in present-day Qom, Iran.
The novel spans one night in a hotel lobby in Paris, France, and it is interlaced with flashbacks from Fouad's adolescence in Qom, Iran.
The narration allows the reader to follow Fouad and experience the petrifying presence of religion-based power and oppression in its domination of daily life.
As a result, Fouad lives in a masculine, chauvinist environment, and experiences numerous acts of oppression instituted by the political system including the public stoning of women, female genital mutilation (which he sees in a dream), and terrifying scenes taking place in court and in prison.
However, the narration maintains a cool, almost humorous perspective as these thoughts and memories flow through Fouad's head, making the novel more of an impersonal account than tragic.