The story takes place at the time of the occupation of Iran by the Allies in the Second World War. It takes place mostly in the narrator's house, a huge Iranian mansion from the early 20th century, where three wealthy families live under the tyranny of a paranoid patriarchal uncle. It is a timeless and universal satire of first love and family intrigue, an abundantly inventive comic novel involving a gallery of varied characters and scenes of hilarious farcical mayhem, 

The novel was first published in 1973 in Persian. The book and television series were banned in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is regarded as the most important and popular work of Iranian fiction since the Second World War. 

“A giddily uproarious mixture of farce and slapstick.” Says The Atlantic.