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·達內希瓦爾（Simin Daneshvar，1921-2012），1921年齣生於伊朗“詩歌之鄉”設拉子，德黑蘭大學波斯文學博士。

她是伊朗最早從事小說創作的女性，並在伊朗文壇創造瞭多個第一：第一個齣版短篇小說集的伊朗女性，第一個齣版小說的伊朗女性，第一個翻譯齣版外國文學的伊朗女性。因所獲得的卓著文學成就，她被尊為“伊朗小說王後”，並被視為20世紀伊朗文壇活力的象徵。

她曾長期在德黑蘭大學任教，是伊朗知識界德高望重的學者作傢之一，被譽為“伊朗文壇長青樹”。同時她也是伊朗現代文壇領袖阿勒•阿赫瑪德（āl-e-Ahmad 1923—1969）的妻子。二人是伊朗現代文壇著名的文學伉儷，在伊朗現代文壇上具有崇高威望地位。在《薩巫頌》一書中文版齣版前夕，驚悉達內希瓦爾女士於2012年3月8日去世，享年90高齡。特此緻以沉痛的哀悼。

她的主要作品有：小說集《熄滅的火焰》（1948年）、小說集《天堂般的城市》（1961年）、長篇小說《薩巫頌》（1969年）、小說集《我該嚮誰問好》（1980年），以及著名的“彷徨三部麯”《彷徨之島》（1993年）、《彷徨的趕駝人》（2001年）、《彷徨之山》（尚未齣版）。