The FreePress U.S.A. 2007 John Murray UK 2007 Penguin Canada 2007 Artemis Netherlands 2007 Weltbild Germany 2007 Cairo Italy 2007 Quidnovi Portugal 2007 Espasa Calpe/Planeta Spain 2007 Forum Sweden 2007 TV2Forlag Danish 2007 Psichogios Greece 2007 Tammerraamat Estonia 2007 Kinneret Israel 2007 Wisdom Korea 2007 Concept Marathi 2007 Jota Czech 2007 Planeta Brazil 2007 Trivium Kiado Hungary 2007 BWP Complex Chinese 2008 Alnari Serbian 2008 Duc in Altum Polish 2008 JCGawsewitch French 2008 Pustaka Alvabet Indonesia 2008 Ucila Inernational Slovenia 2009 Pegasus Yayincilik Turkey 2010 Kalimat Arabic 2010 Sarasavi Sinhalese 2011 Film Option Neraida Albania 2017
Grinzane Book Award Italy 2008
Marina Nemat
Prisoner of Tehran
“Marina Nemat’s beautiful book...is an act of bravery...as well as compassion. Her words, well wrought and heartfelt, expose her shocking dilemma and the terrible system that tried to defile her.” Globe and Mail
On January 15, 1982 Marina Nemat was arrested and sentenced to death for political crimes. It was a deadly time in Ayatollah Khomeini’s new regime, when her mildly critical article of the state in her high school newspaper put her on a watch list. Her fate was sealed when she complained that the teacher of calculus was substituting “government propaganda” for math.
Marina was seized from her family’s apartment in Tehran and taken to Evin prison. In a bizarre twist, one of the Revolutionary Guards, Ali, fell in love with her. Using his family connections, he plucked her from the firing squad with only minutes to spare.
In return, he demanded that she convert from Catholicism to Islam and marry him. If she didn’t, he said, with the dizzying combination of terror and tenderness that would characterize their relationship for the next two years, he would ensure that her family was harmed. After Ali was gunned down by rival factions and died in her arms, Marina was eventually released.
For years, Marina Nemat, a waitress at a suburban Toronto restaurant, the wife of an electrical engineer, and mother of two sons, kept her secret until the silence became too burdensome. This important and enthralling book is a major international literary event.
• Bestseller in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Taiwan, Canada
“. ..the portrait of a world only too real, where women’s lives are cheap -- but not this one.”
Jacquelyn Mitchard Author of The Deep End of the Ocean
