Daughter of Persia : A Woman's Journey From Her Father's Harem Through the Islamic Revolution

From Publishers Weekly
As founder in 1958 of the Tehranok/per book School of Social Work, Sattareh naively believed, "If one only avoided politics, one could achieve something constructive." After two decades of humanitarian efforts in Iranian family planning, day care, vocational programs and aid to the poor and prisoners' families, she was arrested in 1979 by Khomeini's machine-gun-toting teenage minions. Branded an "imperialist," she narrowly escaped execution and now lives in the U.S. The 15th of 36 children, Sattareh revered and feared her "all-powerful" father, a prince and governor. This dramatic if restrained autobiography, written with freelancer Munker, describes her patriarchal upbringing and her education at UCLA. She belatedly realized that "keeping our mouths shut let the Shah do what he wanted." Her memoir is actually most effective as a political document. She powerfully condemns the Eisenhower-backed coup that toppled democratic premier Mossadegh and installed ruthless dicatator Reza Shah Pahlavi, whose fascist secret police were trained and financed by the CIA. The Shah's corrupt, unjust regime, she graphically demonstrates, fueled explosive resentment that found an outlet in Khomeini's fanaticism. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In this poignant autobiography, Farman Farmaian brings Persian history and culture alive. Born in 1921 into the powerful, aristocratic Qajar family, her life spans nearly a century of tremendous change in Iran: from a sheltered childhood in her father's harem (there was an extended family of four wives and over 30 children) through her studies at the University of Southern California where she was the first Iranian student to attend to her return to Iran to found and direct the Tehran School of Social Work from 1958 until 1979 when radical students took over the school and forced her into exile. Intertwined with her personal account is the political history of Iran from the constitutional monarchy of the Qajars through the Western-oriented but brutal Reza Khan and his son Reza Shah to the virulent anti-Western Islamic Republic of Ayatollah Khomeini. This is also a cultural history of a highly adaptable people who learned centuries ago--in order to survive--to trust no one outside one's own family. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Ruth K. Baacke, Bellingham P.L., Wash .Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
An exotic, absorbing, rather odd life saga played out against the volatile politics of Iran. ``Dispossessed of her Persian heritage,'' Farmaian (b. 1921) fondly recalls her harem childhood as the 15th of 36 children, the third-born to her 16-year-old mother, who was the third of her father's eight wives. Here, the author idealizes her father for his ability to recollect his children's names on Friday inspections and for teaching them to be ``obedient'' and grateful, to value education and service, and ``never to accept a bribe.'' Discouraged--as a woman she had ``no value''--from pursuing her own education, Farmaian nonetheless went to America in 1943, where she acquired a master's in social work, an Indian husband who abandoned her, and a daughter who, to her great consternation, was an American citizen. Returning to Iran in 1954, she began, with the Shah's approval, her school of social work, all the while condemning the US government for supporting the Shah, whose corruption she especially denounces here with her own particular form of snobbery: the Shah, she says, made people rich ``whose fathers no one had ever heard of.'' But Farmaian objects equally to the Khomeini revolution, its excesses and injustices: her recounting of her arrest, her defiant response to her interrogators, and her escape is the best reading in the book. Throughout, many of Farmaian's attitudes no doubt will offend the ``American friends'' for whom, along with her grandchildren, she says she is writing, in order to warn them against ``well-meaning efforts to remake the world in their image.'' Rejecting Western democracy, the constitutional monarchy of the Shah, and the religious state of the Ayatollah, the author seems to prefer the landed aristocracy of her father. A seemingly naive but fascinating psychological document, then, with occasional lyric moments: ``My country is a kingdom of fire, a carpet of sand and stone.'' (Eight-page b&w photo insert- -not seen.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith
This wide-ranging autobiography begins with a history of the Persian people from ancient times through the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. Sattareh Farman Farmaian, born in the early 1920s, grows up in her father's compound, one of many children by one of his many wives. Her father is an ardent believer in education and supports Sattareh's determination to became the first female in her family to receive an advanced degree. In time, she realizes her dream of opening the Teheran School of Social Work and teaches health and hygiene to hundreds of students over the years. Immersing herself totally in her work, she chooses not to speak up about the abuse of power by the corrupt Iranian government or against the Shah and his lust for material possessions. When the Shah's government collapses, she is accused of supporting his injustices. Despite her work of the last twenty years, she is kidnapped, interrogated, and forced to leave Iran. Daughter of Persia is a phenomenal read, offering a personal look at how both the Shah and the United States government choose to see only what is beneficial for them. Sattareh Farman Farmaian has written an important book, both for its history and its life-story. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.


From the Publisher
The Remarkable story of the daughter of a once powerful and wealthy shazdeh, or prince, Farmaian tells a fascinating tale of growing up in the 1930s in a Persian harem compound in Tehran. Breaking with Muslim tradition, she became an independent woman and found herself arrested as a counterrevolutionary. A dramtic window on Iran's journey through the twentieth century.


From the Inside Flap
The Remarkable story of the daughter of a once powerful and wealthy shazdeh, or prince, Farmaian  tells a fascinating tale of growing up in the 1930s in a Persian harem compound in Tehran. Breaking  with Muslim tradition, she became an independent woman and found  herself arrested as a counterrevolutionary. A dramtic window on  Iran's journey through the twentieth century.


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In this poignant autobiography, Farman Farmaian brings Persian history and culture alive. Born in 1921 into the powerful, aristocratic Qajar family, her life spans nearly a century of tremendous change in Iran: from a sheltered childhood in her father's harem (there was an extended family of four wives and over 30 children) through her studies at the University of Southern California where she was the first Iranian student to attend to her return to Iran to found and direct the Tehran School of Social Work from 1958 until 1979 when radical students took over the school and forced her into exile. Intertwined with her personal account is the political history of Iran from the constitutional monarchy of the Qajars through the Western-oriented but brutal Reza Khan and his son Reza Shah to the virulent anti-Western Islamic Republic of Ayatollah Khomeini. This is also a cultural history of a highly adaptable people who learned centuries ago--in order to survive--to trust no one outside one's own family. Highly recommended for all libraries.--Ruth K. Baacke, Bellingham P.L., Wash .


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