In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the triumph of the 1953 Iranian Revolution, when her father, furious at rumours about their family’s ties to the Shah, sends her mother and her across the Persian Gulf to safety. The all-female compound on Kish Island, built by her distant father, is her home for the next nine years, but the Iran Ellie returns to is vastly different. Ellie’s father has married her off to a much older man, and it is not long before she finds herself pregnant and alone, abandoned by her husband in a country devastated by war. Ten years later, in the security and tranquillity of a village in Mazandaran Province, Ellie meets Homa, a revolutionary fighting for a just and fair society. Homa shows Ellie what it means to live with courage, to fight injustice – and the two begin a deep friendship that changes the course of Ellie’s life. With a rich cast and unforgettable characters, The Lion Women of Tehran portrays the intersection of three generations of Iranian women, and the lengths they are prepared to go to protect and avenge each other. From a poor café worker to a wealthy prostitute, from privileged schoolgirls to oppressed wives, they are united by their determination to forge their own path and survive.

ISBN-13: 9781398534759
Pages: 336
Language: English
Dimensions: N/A
Weight: 0.240 kg (240 g)
Genres: Fiction, Literature, Society & Culture, Iranian Women, Friendship, Revolution, Cultural Change, Resilience, Family, Identity, Emotional
Format: Paperback