by Azar Nafisi
First published 2010
A girl grows up in Tehran, torn between her manipulative mother's fictions and her father's enchanting tales. As Iran's revolution approaches, she must confront the personal and political injustices that have shaped her family. At the heart of this powerful memoir is the author's fraught relationship with her calculating mother, whose lavish narratives about herself and their family mask deep secrets. Azar Nafisi's journey to independence becomes inextricable from Iran's tumultuous history, as she navigates the changing political landscape and her own betrayals of loved ones.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Iran
368 pages · Paperback · Random House Trade Paperbacks
Content warnings: emotional-abuse