My Life as a Traitor An Iranian Memoir [Paperback]

At the age of twenty, Zarah Ghahramani was swept off the streets of Tehran and taken to the notorious Evin prison, where criminals and political dissidents were held side by side in conditions of legendary brutality. In this richly textured memoir, she tells the terrifying, inspiring story of her time in prison.My Life as a Traitorcelebrates a triumph of the individual over the state and is an affecting addition to the literature of struggle and dissent.

[Ghahramani] records, in harrowing detail, the dire consequences of indulging her defiant 'pink-shoe sensibility... Ghahramani writes in a spare, eloquent prose style that reflects both her child's view of the world before arriving at Evin and the pared-down perceptions of her prison experience. The New York Times

In Ghahramani's graceful, chilling memoir, her naivet? gives way to fearless insights about her country and herself. Questioning the status quo made her a traitor to a fundamentalist regime, but in this searingly honest, brave book, she's nothing short of heroic. People

[Ghahramani] recounts her beatings with dignified anger in this vivid, sometimes horrifying memoir& Her strength: she doesn't let outrage overtake the striking feminine vitality of her storytelling. Entertainment Weekly

Chilling& Riveting& Like the best-selling graphic novel seriesPersepolis,MyLifeasaTraitoris compelling for its seemingly unvarnished glimpse at the experiences of an ordinary young woman in post-1979 Iran&. The memoir illuminates truths about inflexible and dictatorial regimes. San Francisco Chronicle

Married and now living in Australia, Ghahramani has had time to reflect. In this memoir, she does so, evoking both the beauty of her culture and the horror of its regime. New York Daily News

We think something like that could never happen to us. But it happened to Zaral#t