From Prison to Peace Prize: One Woman's Struggle at the Crossroads of History
Starred review from May 1, 2006
Human rights activist and winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, Ebadi courageously recounts her life in Iran in this memoir, publishable here only after she brought the U.S. government to court to challenge the Treasury Department's sanctions policy. Collaborating with Moaveni (Lipstick Jihad), Ebadi guides readers through the turbulent recent history of her country. A young judge and pro-revolution activist under the repressive government of the shah, Ebadi says of the Iranian revolution, "We felt as if we had reclaimed a dignity that, until recently, many of us had not even realized we had lost." Her hopes were quickly dashed as it became clear that the Islamic Republic was more concerned with her lack of a headscarf than with her legal reasoning abilities, and she uses the bulk of her book to explain her decision to remain in Iran and brave the challenges faced by independent-minded citizens of a theocracy. Ebadi provides a revealing glimpse into a deeply insular society. She is at her best when discussing the hapless reform movement led by former president Khatami: for instance, though over a dozen moderate women were elected to the national assembly in 2000, they lacked the power to have the women's conference room furnished with chairs.
May 15, 2006
Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was part of the most liberated generation in Iran. She and a small cohort of other women students wore miniskirts and moved about freely. Ebadi became the first woman judge in Iran, only to be forced out after the 1979 revolution. In her simply narrated memoir, she describes how she loyally remained in Iran as many members of the elite fled and how her experiences motivated her to struggle harder for justice and civil rights, a struggle that even extended to a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which had issued regulations making it impossible for this memoir (the product of an embargoed country) to be published. Despite her distinguished career and admirable courage, Ebadi has written a sketchy, somehow colorless story. Few of the people in it come to life, and at times she skims too lightly over complex issues or resorts to cliché s. Nonetheless, for the significant role Ebadi has played in Iran's recent history, this book belongs in larger public libraries and most general academic collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 1/06.]" -Lisa Klopfer, Eastern Michigan Univ. Lib., Ypsilanti"
Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2006
Most Americans date troubles with Iran to the 1979 overthrow of the shah and the 444-day U.S. embassy hostage drama. Iranians date the friction back to 1953, when the U.S. orchestrated a coup that removed beloved Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. Ebadi recalls that period as the beginning of shifting politics that would erode basic freedoms and notions of human rights in Iran. Raised to believe in gender equality, Ebadi became a judge but was demoted to secretary when the Islamic Revolution under Ayatollah Khomeini demanded subservience of women. Ebadi estimates that five million Iranians, feeling oppressed by the revolution, left the country, draining valuable resources and leaving bitterly separated families. Ebadi lost her profession, her friends, and her country but was determined to stay and speak out against oppression. She eventually returned to public life as a human-rights lawyer taking on the defense of women, children, and dissidents. Ebadi offers a very personal account of her life and her fight for human rights in Iran.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)