Notes: After bold coverage of current affairs for reformist newspapers, journalist Camelia Entekhabi-Fard is sent to prison. The surreal experience, along with her childhood during the revolution and desire to contribute to Iran’s intellectual life, is captured in her memoir.

Notes: Zarah Ghahramini describes growing up as an Iranian woman in a family who prized tolerance, her arrest for not keeping her head covered, the mental and physical torture she suffered in prison, and her eventual release and escape out of the country.

Notes: Recalling Jewish life in Iran before the Revolution—a world that is mostly non-existent now—Farideh Goldin’s memoir leads up to the overthrow of the Shah and the hostile behavior of Islamic neighbors.

Notes: Shusha Guppy recounts growing up in Iran during the Shah’s rule and recounts the customs and traditions that shaped her family’s life.

Notes: This lyrical coming-of-age story creates an intimate portrait of life in Tehran—the author's family and friends, her life at school, her observations of Iran's political life, and her longing to escape a sense of displacement from her home, culture, and language.

Notes: Every week for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, teacher Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. This extraordinary memoir is an exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature.

Notes: A portrait of her childhood in Iran, Azar Nafisi’s memoir centers around her powerful mother. She reflects on women’s choices and her struggle to free herself from her mother’s influence.

Notes: Marina Nemat recounts her life as a young girl during the early days of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution in Iran and her arrest, torture, and sentencing to death for “political crimes.”

Notes: Nahid Rachlin recounts being raised by a widow aunt in Iran, being oppressed by a domineering father and restrictive Muslim laws, and struggling with the difference between the cultures of her home and America.

Notes: When Zainab Salbi was 11 years old, her father was chosen to serve as Saddam Hussein’s personal pilot, and as a result, her family was often forced to spend weekends with Hussein, whom she was taught to call “uncle.” Salbi offers readers a glimpse of life under a dictator and her eventual arranged marriage in America, which turned out to be another world of tyranny. Faced with many challenges, Salbi eventually became a champion of female victims of war and dedicates her life to speaking on behalf of oppressed women worldwide.

Notes: Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian recounts her inspiring life as an artist, a wife, a mother, a collector, and an Iranian.