Savushun chronicles the life of a Persian family during the Allied occupation of Iran during World War II. It is set in Shiraz, a town which evokes images of Persepolis and pre-Islamic monuments, the great poets, the shrines, Sufis, and nomadic tribes within a historical web of the interests, privilege and influence of foreign powers; corruption, incompetence and arrogance of persons in authority; the paternalistic landowner-peasant relationship; tribalism; and the fear of famine. The story is seen through the eyes of Zari, a young wife and mother, who copes with her idealistic and uncompromising husband while struggling with her desire for traditional family life and her need for individual identity. Daneshvar's style is both sensitive and imaginative, while following cultural themes and metaphors. Within basic Iranian paradigms, the characters play out the roles inherent in their personalities. While Savushun is a unique piece of literature that transcends the boundaries of the historical community in which it was written, it is also the best single work for understanding modern Iran. Although written prior to the Islamic Revolution, it brilliantly portrays the social and historical forces that gave pre-revolutionary Iran its characteristic hopelessness and emerging desperation so inadequately understood by outsiders. The original Persian edition of Savushun has sold over half a million copies.

西敏·达内希瓦尔（Simin Daneshvar，1921-2012），1921年出生于伊朗“诗歌之乡”设拉子，德黑兰大学波斯文学博士。

她是伊朗最早从事小说创作的女性，并在伊朗文坛创造了多个第一：第一个出版短篇小说集的伊朗女性，第一个出版小说的伊朗女性，第一个翻译出版外国文学的伊朗女性。因所获得的卓著文学成就，她被尊为“伊朗小说王后”，并被视为20世纪伊朗文坛活力的象征。

她曾长期在德黑兰大学任教，是伊朗知识界德高望重的学者作家之一，被誉为“伊朗文坛长青树”。同时她也是伊朗现代文坛领袖阿勒•阿赫玛德（āl-e-Ahmad 1923—1969）的妻子。二人是伊朗现代文坛著名的文学伉俪，在伊朗现代文坛上具有崇高威望地位。在《萨巫颂》一书中文版出版前夕，惊悉达内希瓦尔女士于2012年3月8日去世，享年90高龄。特此致以沉痛的哀悼。

她的主要作品有：小说集《熄灭的火焰》（1948年）、小说集《天堂般的城市》（1961年）、长篇小说《萨巫颂》（1969年）、小说集《我该向谁问好》（1980年），以及著名的“彷徨三部曲”《彷徨之岛》（1993年）、《彷徨的赶驼人》（2001年）、《彷徨之山》（尚未出版）。