I Might Be Lost

Sara Salar’s first novel tells the story of a woman whose rebellious and adventurous spirit is constrained by the restrictions of society. The narrator of “I Might Have Got Lost” is a girl from Hamedan with two brothers; she has lost her father, and her mother suffers from addiction. She becomes acquainted with a girl named Gandum, and they both get accepted into university and live together in a dormitory. The narrator recalls all of this; she is now a mother, narrating the story throughout the course of a single day. This story does not feature many characters, aside from the narrator and someone named “Gandum,” whose presence raises questions. Throughout most of the book, except for the final part, the reader wonders who Gandum truly is. I’ve read several different critiques of this book, and in one of them, it was mentioned that it is not explicitly clear whether Gandum is the narrator herself or not. Some of the incidents the narrator recounts, such as visiting Gandum’s home, create room for such doubt. Moreover, in her conversation with the psychologist, Gandum is introduced as her friend; when the narrator explains the story involving herself, Farid Rahdar, and Gandum, the psychologist says, “So, all three of you were caught?” “I Might Have Got Lost” has received positive critiques in literary circles and even won the Houshang Golshiri Award.