Even After All This Time: A Story of Love, Revolution, and Leaving Iran

by Afschineh Latifi, Pablo F. Fenjves

At the age of ten, a young Iranian girl witnesses the horror of her father's execution and escapes the revolution with her sister. Growing up in Tehran in the 1970s, Afschineh Latifi and her sister and two brothers enjoyed a life of luxury and privilege. Their father, a self–made man, had worked his way up from nothing to become a colonel in the Shah's army, and their mother, a woman of equally modest roots, had made a career for herself as a respected schoolteacher. But in February, 1979, Colonel Latifi was arrested by members of the newly installed Khomeini regime, and publicly pilloried as an "Enemy of God." Some months later, after having been shunted from one prison cell to another, and without benefit of a legitimate trial, Colonel Latifi was summarily executed. Fearing for the safety of her children, Mrs. Latifi made a wrenching to send her daughters, ages ten and eleven, to the west, splitting up the family until they could safely reunite. Out on their own, Afschineh and her sister, Afsaneh, were forced to become strong young women before they'd even had a childhood. Even After All This Time is a story of hope and heartache, a story of a family torn apart for six harrowing years, and finally coming together to rebuild in America. In the richly evocative tradition of the bestselling Reading Lolita in Tehran, this is a story of a family that had the courage to dream impossible dreams and to make them come true against impossible odds.

Genres: Iran, Nonfiction, Memoir, Middle East, Biography, History, Religion

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 29, 2005

Reviews

[Abigail Spracklen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Afschineh Latifi's "Even After All This Time" Is exactly what it says it is; a story of love, revolution, and leaving Iran. You get wonderfully descriptive details on all of that and more. Latifi tells us about the heart-wrenching execution of her father and the struggle in the forthcoming years. She tells us of her move to Austria with her sister Afseneh, and then her move to America. Latin doesn't just give us vague details in these stories. No, she tells us the nitty gritty of the situations. She tells us of her struggles, her desires, her past, her present, her family, her schooling, and anything else you could possible think of. Never, not even once, in this novel did I get bored. Everything intrigued me. I found myself wanting to know more and more and more about her life. I cried over Baba Joon's death. I cried when her mother finally made it to America after all those years. I cried at the closing words. This book was an emotional rollercoaster and I felt very connected to Latifi. During Latifi's time in America she had a lot of struggles, but she was also presented with multople kindnesses. I am so glad that this was the case. She deserved it and it left me more hopeful in my own life. It just goes to show that even in the worst situations something will always come along to make it even a little bit more bearable and it could make all the difference in the world.
I seriously commend her mother. I have only read about her but I can tell that she really is "tough as nails." She never wavered from what she believed in and she was 110% committed to her children's well being. She was grateful for everything that she got and I absolutely love with her. I would love to meet her.
I give this book 5 stars and I would give it more if I could. It was extraordinary.

[Shokufeh شکوفه Kavani کاوانی · Rating 5 out of 5]

Afshineh Latifi is one year older than me and belongs to the same generation which experienced Islamic Revolution , war and leaving Iran..her story gives a better undrestanding of Iran and what really happened and opens a new window to the people in other parts of the world. Good on her.

افشینه لطیفی که به نسل من تعلق دارد ؛ یعنی نسلی که انقلاب 1357 و جنگ و غربت را تجربه کرده است به زبانی شیرین ؛ داستان خودش را میگوید که بسیار مهم است چرا که دیدگاهی تازه از مردم ایران برائ دیگران مینمایاند و آنچه را باید گفت ؛ در ابعادی وسیعتر میگوید.....کتابی بسیار زیبا بخصوص برائ آنها که میخواهند راجع به ایران پس از انفلاب بیشتر بدانند.

[Kim Deffebach · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the age of ten, a young Iranian girl witnesses the horror of her father's execution and escapes the revolution with her sister.
Growing up in Tehran in the 1970s, Afschineh Latifi and her sister and two brothers enjoyed a life of luxury and privilege. Their father, a self–made man, had worked his way up from nothing to become a colonel in the Shah's army, and their mother, a woman of equally modest roots, had made a career for herself as a respected schoolteacher. But in February, 1979, Colonel Latifi was arrested by members of the newly installed Khomeini regime, and publicly pilloried as an "Enemy of God." Some months later, after having been shunted from one prison cell to another, and without benefit of a legitimate trial, Colonel Latifi was summarily executed.
Fearing for the safety of her children, Mrs. Latifi made a wrenching decision: to send her daughters, ages ten and eleven, to the west, splitting up the family until they could safely reunite. Out on their own, Afschineh and her sister, Afsaneh, were forced to become strong young women before they'd even had a childhood.
Even After All This Time is a story of hope and heartache, a story of a family torn apart for six harrowing years, and finally coming together to rebuild in America. In the richly evocative tradition of the bestselling Reading Lolita in Tehran, this is a story of a family that had the courage to dream impossible dreams and to make them come true against impossible odds.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing true story! Everyone should read this book. Your heart will break for these young sisters and you will be amazed to see how far they come. This is for everyone that is a mother, sister, comes from a tight family or is part of a close circle of friends. The family photos in the book make it all the more real.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brought back lots of fond memories of my childhood in Saltanat abad, Tehran. It also reminded me so much of my own early days in America as I was struggling to learn English and trying not to be a big Geek at school.

I could totally relate to many of the financial problems that Latifi family endured during their years to built a new life for themselves in USA. This shows that not all Iranians who immigrated to US were wealthy and of Royal descendant. Many of those immigrants were simply the regular people who could not tolerate a so called Islamic Regime with all it's faults and foes.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Wherever you are, that's where God is, and that's where he'll always be."

"Everything I am, I am because of you. Everything I have, I have because of you. I owe everything to you...I love you more than you will ever know."

"There are angels in all our lives, sprinkles here and there."

[I'am · Rating 4 out of 5]

Motivating and informative.

[Amber M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and I enjoyed learning what life was like inside Iran when the Shah left. I felt like I got a good look too at the struggles that immigrants to the US can face. At the same time though, I felt like there were a lot of details included that just distracted from the story. Several times I would find myself wondering what the point was of including various descriptions. I will chalk it up to this being the author's first book and maybe she didn't realize that some things were better left out but in general I would recommend it.

[Kristin]

This was a great book. It was actually really interesting to see how certain things in American culture are perceived by a newcomer, such as the wealth disparity (known to us in America, of course, but so much more distinctly visible to someone from a different culture) and the pervasiveness of corporate consumerism. When she said that in Iran the commercials play at the end of a TV program and not during, I was amazed.
I was also amazed by how extraordinarily late the author and her sister began to experience an awakening to romantic concepts. This thing where she had never considered thinking about boys until starting around age 19 or 21, and then only at a very lukewarm level, blew my mind. It made me think that either she's fibbing because she knows her conservative Persian family members will read the book, or it's truly a study in how profoundly culture affects sexuality. In mainstream America, we tend to believe that sexual awakening is something that both naturally and unavoidably happens at least to young teenagers if not downright kids, but I guess that's a myth. I think that's fascinating.
On an almost related note, it's also really funny to me how she makes a big to-do about how dorky she and her sister were and how people stared, but I see the photos, and I can almost guarantee that people stared because they looked like elegant, exotic models to the caucasian eye.
My only disappointment with the book itself is that for the first part, the reader is really put into the experience and shown what things are like, but then after a certain point, we get only nominal details. Where early on, she tells us thoroughly what everything is like, then she starts to maybe run out of room and goes through big events, rapidfire, without the same level of detail, and it ends abruptly.
Oh, and yeah, the money spending thing- I almost had to put the book down at that point. I know how remorseful they were, but seriously... so bad.

[Larissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great example of a family's will to survive while also trying to better themselves and maintain their sense of dignity and pride. You easily empathize with them as they are like every young, happy family: learning, exploring, girls being girls and boys being boys. The mother is a wonderful character and embodies the term sacrifice while never allowing her family to give up, admit defeat, or to settle for just surviving. attempting This book is about sacrifices, children having to grow up too quickly and the the constant threat against their lives while living in revolutionary Iran during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
When I finished the book I knew I had read a wonderful account of a family that persevered and after decades of being separated, were finally reunited and living happy and safe lives. But then you realize that the two sisters lost their childhoods trying to be good daughters and saving every penny they earned from MacDonalds in order to bring their mother and brothers to the states. They are now both very successful women, living in Manhattan, but after finishing the book, it still seemed like they still don't have much of a life. Once they achieved all of their goals, and safely reunited with their mother and siblings, they didn't stop-they are still working themselves to the bone. I felt like writing the author and telling her how inspiring her story was, but that she should also now take a hiatus from her high passed legal career and spend a year wondering a round the globe and finally experiencing all of the things she missed in her young adult life.
This is a story about a beautiful, intelligent family who are fine examples of humanity, but I cant help but feel like they still need to find some form of catharsis as a family.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

on pg. 48. Started reading because in my Comparative Government class we are studying Iran and I wanted a different perspective on the shah

Less info on Iran than I expected. The love story between the author's parents was so romantic though and I'm not usually a romantic myself. But the pictures and all the little details about how her parents had a rare, equal partnership, filled with love was touching. I especially liked the saying about the sun and the Earth ("even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, 'you owe me'"). Obviously from the title the book is about leaving Iran but I wish the author had delved a little more into why people supported the shah (I can understand it somewhat, he was trying to be modern. Just outrageously spending/wasting money).

It was nice to read about how much the Iranian exile/immigrants lean on each other. The author and her sister attended school in Europe for awhile (before coming to America) and their mom got them in touch with an Iranian woman who owned a bakery. No relation but she took care of them while their mother was in Iran, signing forms that needed to be signed, checking in on them, etc. A very tight-knit community.

[Michelle Voelker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting Memoir. A well cared for, possibly spoiled, motivated and self-centered child has to grow up fast during the Iranian revolution when her father is detained and ultimately executed. Fascinating descriptions of her life in Iran, her family history, the love story of her parents, and the sudden changes in their status even before her father was detained. This book is also an interesting commentary on the acceptance/non-acceptance of immigrants/refugees in the US, as well as the continued possibility of "American Dream" if you work hard enough.

I am the same age as the author, and at the time she was dealing with the execution of her father, leaving her country, trying to fit in, and making costly mistakes, I was leading a sheltered, carefree life as a self-centered 10 year old. At the time, the only knowledge of the Iranian Revolution at the time was a poster from the local paper "Shoot A Hollah In The Ayatollah" that I brought to school for show and tell.

We all have lessons to learn, and while the author has done remarkably well for all of her trials, she admits there are things she still needs to deal with (as of the books publishing date, 8 years ago), which is refreshingly honest.

[Susie Chocolate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reached for this book because as an Iranian/American I also spent my childhood in Iran and am of the same age as the author and I too lived in Iran for the first year of the Iranian Revolution so I found this book to be relevant.
Ms. Latifi grew up in a life of privilege in Tehran, as the daughter of a self made man who rose up in the ranks as a Colonel in the Shah of Iran's army. She grew up with great comfort in a very sheltered life but after the revolution hit, many high ranking officers in the Shah's army were rounded up and sadly executed, without any fair trial. This fate was what her father suffered and very soon after, her life fell apart. Her mother, who is at the center of this autobiography, was a young mother of four young children who had to make the heart wrenching decision to send her two daughters, ages 10 and 11 abroad to boarding school in Europe. This is the story of Afschineh and her sister who was just one year older, basically fending and raising themselves and depending on each other for the next six formative years until their mother was able to join them, much later in the United States.

[Kim Miller-Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating memoir written by a woman who left Iran as a young girl right after the Iranian revolution. She tells the heartbreaking story of how Khomeini's regime killed her father and destroyed the only life she and her family knew. It's a story about the immortal love of a father, the unrelenting determination of a mother, and a family of people who share an inspirational devotion to each other, to the attainment of knowledge, and to the importance of perseverance. In telling her personal story, Latifi presents a solid history of contemporary Iran and the horrors it inflicts upon its citizens, but she also provides an immigrant's perspective of modern America and the opportunities it gives to both its citizens and anyone who is lucky enough to make it here. Although published 10 years ago, it is an even more important now for understanding the experiences of the hundreds of thousands of ordinary Muslims who live daily with tyranny, brutalized by the same type of fanaticism & extremist ideology that is currently terrorizing the western world.

[Tina Ramen · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 Must read!!!!

My full review here:
https://youtu.be/AN32joOskyE

So many things to say about this book, I don’t even know where to start. Memoir of a girl (Afschineh) and her family fleeing Iran during the Iran revolution and how they separate all over and come together in America and build a life in America. I feel as someone who was born and raised in Canada that it’s easy to forget how many luxuries and privileges we have and even though this book covers serious topic that there’s a lot of humour on what it’s like to immigrant to a new country knowing nothing and having to learn the language, culture, and education from the start. It gives so much perspective and I really feel if anyone who is anti-immigration should be open to reading this book and then tell me how they feel about anti-immigration.

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a memoir which chronicles the author’s life. We learn about her childhood in Tehran in the 1970s before the Ayatollah’s rise to power, the arrest and execution of her father who was a Colonel in the Shah’s army under the Ayatollah’s regime and her mother’s decision to send her and her sister to live first in Austria and then eventually in the United States where they lived without their mother for 6 years. While the book is not really all that well written I did find it compelling and particularly interesting that Afschineh and her sister Afsaneh managed to not only survive their separation from their mother and family but to grow into highly functioning and emotionally stable adults.

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the fifth memoir I've read by an Iranian woman who has had to leave Iran and immigrated to the west. I found this book to be very readable. I was epecially caught up in the segments where they were the Latifi girls were forced to live with their uncle who was less than thrilled to have them in his home. I was amazed by the fact that these girls were simply dropped into public school without knowing a word of English, yet they managed to perservere -- learning the language by watching cartoons and television commericials. It reminded me that immigrants are willing to work hard, and endure nearly unbearable hardships for years in order to make it in this country, whereas most people who were born here, don't make half as much of an effort.

[Wendy Coyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a ghost written "fantay". Most of it doesn't make sense. Like they live in a big house in the most expensive suburb and drive Mercedes and have servants but her father, the author claims, is just a ordinary colonel. Uh Huh! Then her housewife mother doesn't understand, she claims, wh her husband was arrested for corruption. Sad, that he got executed. Sad they had to come to America. But somehow this same mother
calls up total but rich Iranian strangers, manages again to live above her means while telling her kids that
she supports them working at Kinkos or something........a real vanity piece by the lawyer daughter.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sad at the end of this book: not because it had a sorrowful ending, but because it was over. Through these pages, I came to know and love Afschineh and her family. I almost felt as though I was a part of all they had gone through.

The subtitle is “A Story of Love, Revolution, and Leaving Iran.” In the midst of deep tragedy, these strong women make their way from Iran to the United States, and make their way in their lives as well. Even After All This Time is a fantastic picture of family.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book - I ended up reading it in one day! Not uncommon for me but it definitely has to catch me for a one-day read and this one fits. Her story becomes more touching after she and her sister come to America while her mom and brothers are still in Iran. And in the end, when she honestly writes of how her childhood tragedy still affects her current life and relationships, I shed a few tears. Actually I cried a couple time while reading the book - it was really beautiful.

[Sahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually liked this book so much and found it easy to relate to. I realize the whole "women escape from Iran" biography genre is over saturated, this one does not focus on the exodus but rather the longer term effects while growing up in the U.S. As a side note: I actually became pen pals with the lovely author and little does she know she actually helped me with some law school advice.

[Jessica Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. From the first chapter it sucked me in deep and enlightened me to a reality I did not know existed. I read this after the Kite Runner also set in a similar setting though this being non-fiction it really broadened and expanded what I had already learned. This should be required reading in schools!

[Anna Kendig · Rating 5 out of 5]

The prose of this book is not really that great, but the story itself is truly fascinating. I love persian culture, too, and the historical pieces are well-woven into the personal history of the family. A good, fast read.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story really stays with you. It is amazing how strong woman can be. It is astounding the events these people had to go through. Once again make one grateful for the life they have been fortunate to live.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could hardly put this book down all weekend. A well-written true account of the author's life as a child in Iran, the execution of her father during the Revolution, and her subsequent move and life in America. It brought me to tears several times. An excellent book.

[Rafael.r · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book is a very touching story right from the first page. I am begging this book and there is already tragedies, families issues and bonds. From the second i saw this cover i have liked this book.

[Veronique Launier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't remember a book that affected me emotionally quite as much as this one. I was a crying mess through a lot of this book. It's not the saddest or most tragic story I have read, but it was presented in a manner that I really connected with emotionally.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this very much. At one point I was highly irritated at the author and her sister for blowing through $13,000 of their widowed mother's hard-earned money while at private school in Austria, because they were lonely, but I ended up liking the Latifi family very much.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that I found hard to stop reading once I had started it. It gives an insight into what life was like for a family living in Iran during the time of the Shah and then what became of their lives when the Ayatollah returned.

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non-fiction. Afschineh Latifi is a lawyer in NYC who came from Tehran, Iran. Her mother sent her and her sister Afsanch to America. Their story taught me a great deal about the experience of recent immigrants and gave me more empathy for their plight.