by Marjan Kamali

We, in America, often get so focused on our lives and our problems that we do not pay attention to the rest of the world. Perhaps that is also true for other countries, but it is definitely a problem here in the U.S.A. I lived through many of the actual events described in this book, but I never really gave it much thought as to what the people living through these events actually experienced. I knew about the revolution in Iran, but I didn’t identify with those who lived IN it.

Kamali makes the reader feel as if they are observing the turmoil first-hand. While this is a fictional work, it reads as if it were truly autobiographical. I actually went to information about the author to see if she was telling us the story of her life. Each character comes to life and each character grows and changes over the span of the 31 years covered by the events in the book. Some characters that I disliked at first changed over time and revealed a totally different person who I could really identify with and respect.

Political freedom and women’s rights are the two main themes of this book. However, friendship and love are the motivations behind all of the action. How the women of Iran have changed and yet how they have endured in spite of all that has happened in and to their country makes for spell-binding reading. How they, as immigrants in America, have managed to fit in and to maintain their identity in a country that is vastly different from Iran adds knowledge to the reader of a strong, resilient people who refuse to be demeaned and denigrated.

I recommend this book for high school and adult readers, both men and women.