Prisoner of Tehran

Stories which quietly reveal incredible, almost unfathomable courage always draw me in. Prisoner of Tehran is one such story. It is the personal journey of Marina Nemat, an Iranian woman whose life experiences could hardly be imagined.

When the story opens, Marina is sixteen. The Iranian Revolution has just occurred ushering in, among other things, Khomeini's view of how girls and women are to behave. In a very short time, free-spirited women her age and older must learn a very new way of life. They can no longer talk freely with men; they must cover their heads; there are places they cannot go without a male family member's permission and accompaniment. And life choices are severely curtailed.

A few weeks into the new regime, there is a harsh knock on the door of the home where Marina lives with her family. In moments she is dragged from her bed and arrested on a trumped up charge of disobedience. She is taken to the infamous Evin prison and beaten savagely in an attempt to force a false confession. A few nights later, she is taken from her cell and, along with a half dozen other prisoners, driven to an open field. Minutes before what is clearly to be a group execution, an official arrives with a stay only for Marina and she is taken back to her cell.

The story which follows traces Marina's life for the next several years - how she manages to survive in prison by helping other young women, how she is "wooed" by one of the men who originally tortured her and then is forced to comply with his proposal of marriage, and how she eventually ends up escaping the marriage and fleeing the country. There are so many harrowing twists and turns in this story but it is through these that we see the emergence of a woman of extraordinary inner strength - a woman who refuses to be overtaken by her brutal circumstances. More than seventeen years or so elapse between Nemat's time in prison and her decision to share her secrets and tell her story. And this she finally does from the safety of her home in Toronto, Canada. You will start this book and finish it in one reading. It is impossible to put down.

This book is about a young Christian woman who becomes a political prisoner in Iran and chronicles the rise of the Islamic state. *slight spoiler alert* In the process of her imprisonment, a guard asks her to marry him, but forces her to convert to Islam to do so. For her, it becomes a choice of that or the horrors, and death sentence, that awaits her in the prison.

What I particularly liked about this book was that she was able to give a great account of the horrors people faced there without particularly demonizing anyone. Even her husband, which does do some horrible things, you find difficult to fully dislike at the end. It is a fair account of things, and a great read for Canadians to realize the things people face in other countries, and why they chose to come here.

Wonderfully moving and in sightful.

The author was a brave woman who refused to see the world in black and white. She loved to read and learn also to express herself. Therefore she was seen as an activist. In Iran at the Evin prison she was tortured at the age of 16. If Ali Moosavi hadn't been her interrogator who intervened moments before her execution she would not be alive today to tell this story. For years she buried her memoirs till she moved to Canada where here she can express herself and tell her story of the Iran revolution. My favorite quote in this book is "Will you forgive me....for not asking" quote by her husband, Andre. A very touching book.