In Laleh Khadivi's latest novel, *Female Life on Planet Earth*, the protagonist Heti reflects on the unsettling nature of inheritance while watching her daughter play soccer. Living in Los Angeles, Heti is an Iranian-American accountant coping with her mother's recent death and raising two daughters, Ava and Zora. During a game, a fellow parent questions whether Ava’s talent comes from Heti, who is more concerned with the secrets parents keep from their children than their skills.
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Khadivi's story delves into the complexity of maternal relationships and the hidden aspects of our loved ones' lives. When Heti receives unsettling photographs of her mother from an anonymous source, she is confronted with an unexpected past. One image shows her mother, veiled in black and wielding a machine gun, indicating a potential connection to the violence during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The shock of this revelation leaves Heti grappling with her mother’s dual identity and the notion of shared traits.
As Heti explores the historical context of all-female militias, she wrestles with her feelings about her mother’s past and her own identity. The book employs a series of vignettes over a year, where Heti navigates significant personal reflections in everyday settings, from the soccer field to grocery stores, often infused with a sense of dark humor.
Khadivi balances the comic elements of suburban life with deeper, more existential themes. The chapters, named after planets or physics terms, reflect a cosmic sensibility, merging Heti's domestic struggles with larger philosophical questions. The narrative shifts between humor and weighty contemplation, occasionally making the reading experience feel uneven.
Overall, the novel examines how daughters can either embrace, resist, or redefine the legacies left by their mothers. As Heti learns, the true essence of inheritance may lie not in what we receive, but in the choices we make about who we become.