From Miniskirt to Hijab: A Girl in Revolutionary Iran

by Jacqueline Saper

Jacqueline Saper, named after Jacqueline Kennedy, was born in Tehran to Iranian and British parents. At eighteen she witnessed the civil unrest of the 1979 Iranian revolution and continued to live in the Islamic Republic during its most volatile times, including the Iran-Iraq War. In a deeply intimate and personal story, Saper recounts her privileged childhood in prerevolutionary Iran and how she gradually became aware of the paradoxes in her life and community—primarily the disparate religions and cultures.

In 1979 under the Ayatollah regime, Iran became increasingly unfamiliar and hostile to Saper. Seemingly overnight she went from living a carefree life of wearing miniskirts and attending high school to listening to fanatic diatribes, forced to wear the hijab, and hiding in the basement as Iraqi bombs fell over the city. She eventually fled to the United States in 1987 with her husband and children after, in part, witnessing her six-year-old daughter’s indoctrination into radical Islamic politics at school. At the heart of Saper’s story is a harrowing and instructive tale of how extremist ideologies seized a Westernized, affluent country and transformed it into a fundamentalist Islamic society.
 

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

234 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Winner: Chicago Writers Association 2020 Book of the Year Award
Finalist: 2020 Clara Johnson Book Award
Finalist: 2021 Feathered Quill Book Award
Foreword Reviews: Diversity Book of the Week
Curated Magazine: Must-Read Book of Fall

Jacqueline Saper (named after Jacqueline Kennedy), is an Iranian-American author, professional speaker, educator, columnist, and translator. An expert on Iran's subject, her opinion columns and articles appear in national and international publications.

Jacqueline is well known for her award-winning memoir, From Miniskirt to Hijab, published by the University of Nebraska Press—Potomac Books. She was born in Tehran (1961) to an Iranian father and a British mother. In her childhood, she experienced life in Iran's thriving Jewish community. But in 1979, at age 18, she experienced the tumultuous Iranian revolution. While many members of her community sought asylum abroad, she and her family remained, expecting (and hoping) that the strictures imposed by the new regime would be short-lived. But that would not be the case. Then, almost overnight, she went from a life of wearing miniskirts to high school parties to listening to fanatic diatribes, being forced to wear the hijab, and hiding in her basement as Iraqi bombs fell over her city. Her book is a riveting story of fate, faith, and multiple cultural identities of a young woman in one of the most fascinating and politically turbulent parts of the world. She escaped Iran with her husband and two small children on a harrowing journey in 1987.

Jacqueline earned the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) designation after coming to the United States. She serves as a volunteer for the National Immigrant Justice Center as a Farsi translator/Interpreter and subtitled the award-winning movie, "Alex and Ali." She is the 2018 recipient of Oakton College Distinguished Alumni Award, and a Fellow member at MESA, Middle East Studies Association.

Facebook: jacqueline.saper.author
Instagram: jacqueline saper
Linkedin: jacqueline saper


For more information or to contact me, please visit my website at (https://www.jacquelinesaper.com/)

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review Although this is not a book about the anti-Semitism faced in Iran by the author and her family, it does figure prominently. In any country, if you come from a minority that the government despises and represses and accuses of collaboration with their enemies (in this case the US and Israel), then inevitably it will be written from that view point.

There are some bright spots in this dark and heavy book. The author and her surgeon husband live in an enclave for medical personnel. Despite the fact they are Jewish and all the others are Muslim, they are decent human beings and have no part of the widespread anti-Semitism of the Ayatollahs. One of them, Zahra, says her husband has bought at enormous cost an illegal VHS player and wants him to wire up their tv sets so that when they get a new movie, they can both watch it. To get movies they go to the local grocery to buy milk and ask the boy behind the counter for either American or Hindi, that's their only choice! But tv is no longer restricted to revolutionary programming after that.

Another bright spot. The author does not have a scarf or chador with her when visiting another friend in the apartment block. There are lots of women there. The husband of her friend walks in, all these women, women who not long before wore miniskirts and lipstick, get into a tizzy and reach for their head coverings, say the man has changed now with the regime and wants all women to be subservient to him, cover themselves and keep their eyes cast down. But the author just stiffs it out and looks him in the eye, he smiles and is polite and then passes on through to another part of the house. Relief! But has he really changed or are the women just panicked into thinking of the repercussions of even gossip about their non-compliance with the religious injunctions of the Ayatollahs?

I recently read The Heartbeat of Iran: Real Voices of a Country and its People Not reviewed yet. in which everyone that author, Tara Kangarlou, interviewed thinks the country is more or less absolutely lovely, thought it could be better, and all the Jews interviewed say it's a marvellous place to live. Except the Rabbi is frightened of having his name published. Heartbeat is a puff piece book by a CNN, NBC award-winning journalist with joint Iranian-American citizenship who isn't about to rock the boat with more than very minor criticisms. This book, from Miniskirt to Hijab, feels and reads much more real.
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Reading notes "On the radio, a reporter would interview women in the street and ask why they were wearing hijab. The answer was always because they are, "slapping their fists in the mouth of America." Is this not what people are saying about wearing niqabs in the West? That it is as much or more political than it is religious. There is no religious injunction about covering the face. It might be law or it might be tradition, but when making hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, women's faces have to be uncovered.

All non-Muslims are subject to repression. Jews the worst, but also Christians and Zoroastrians. They cannot get into universities and are barred from many jobs. But nothing compares to the repression, hatred and imprisoning and execution of the Baha'is who are apostates. The Ayatollah's speech quoting from the Qu'ran, "the Jews will be hunted down even if they are hidden behind rocks and trees," as showing themselves of exactly the same disposition as Nazis. It is no wonder the Shah had Savak, his police force, put down all revolutionary Muslim groups. It wasn't for his benefit, he could see what would happen to his country should the Ayatollah Khomeini get power.

His great mistake was the majority of those who rebelled against him were working class and peasants, both of them ill-educated. Khomeini, from Paris, was saying a Muslim republic would be heaven on earth, all would be free, women could wear what they want, it would be free of the domination and corruption of the Shah and Americans, blah blah blah. If the Shah had spent as much money on educating these people so they had a better chance in life, than he did on himself and his wife, on his parties, on his palaces, on his secret police, maybe Iran would not be a repressive, hateful, society where nuclear power was being built specifically with to annhilate Israel and America.

The anti-American and especially anti-Israeli fervourhas now become one with anti-Semitism. Jews not only have their ids marked with a red mark, they cannot get passports or exit visas. Any Jews that do leave - some who have the 'right' surname by saying they are Armenian Christians have their property confiscated when they leave. Jews are subject at any time to summary execution as spies for Israel. Even kids as young as 19. The author's little girl comes home from kindergarten punching the air with her little fists shouting at the top of her voice, "Death to America, Death to Israel"

This really is Nazi Germany all over again. And in was in the first Shah Reza's time of WWII where he was a great supporter of Hitler, that Persia was to be referred to as Iran - Aryan.
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This is very dark. I've reached the bit about how when they have to vote for or against Iran becoming an Islamic Republic - the voting is public and gets them a stamp on their ID card they will need for to get food etc, the Jews get a red mark, everyone else a green seal. Might as well they have to wear a yellow star....
When I say "Jew" read Baha'i who were much despised anyway since Muslims say the last prophet was Mohammed and the Baha'is say it was Baháʼu'lláh. Read also Zoroastrian and Christian. But this book was written by a Jew and so she is writing of what she knows but she also makes the point it applies to all non-Muslims. Additionally for Jews like her father's family who had been forced into ghettos in Iran during the Holocaust, there is an existential fear so great it makes many of them (not her father, he's an optimist in denial) making them leave their houses with only suitcases and flee to family in the US or wherever they have them.

Her father's neighbours said to him, when you flee leave us the contents of your house. Echoes of Nazi Germany where the neighbours turned against them and stole their property secure in the knowledge they were more likely to be praised for looting the houses of Jewish scum than prosecuted for theft.

The author went to a Jewish school, mixed boys and girls and faiths, although it's curriculum was secular apart from faith lessons, not attended by the 10% of the students who weren't Jewish. All schools were closed down by the Shah during revolutionary times and reopened four months later by the Ayatollah Khomeini, who if he had spoken the truth would never have been paid any attention to at all, but he lied.

Of course he lied he was a power-mad politician at heart, faith... don't make me laugh, just a means of control. He promised freedom for all, women could wear what they wanted, have careers etc. and anything and everything else that ignorant people who always blame others, often rightly, for their downtrodden lives, would believe and clever people would be forced to go along with. That lasted three days until he said women must cover up in the workplace.

The chant in the streets was: Death to Americans, Death to Israelis, Death to women who don't wear the chador and headscarf. Acid was thrown in the faces of uncovered women. The previous year the author had been swanning around in a bikini and her new platfom-heeled shoes. Her mother who was English, blonde and never learned Farsi properly, gave up her job and stayed in the house out of fear what the mob might do to her. (The English were hated, but not quite so much as Americans, Israelis and women who uncovered their hair. Proportion, right?)

When the schools were reopened. She found that her senior class of 45 was down to 12. 9 of whom were Muslim. The rest had fled. All the teachers had either fled or been replaced. The textbook being as they derived much from the West, had all been replaced. One of the first things they had to do was to write an essay either slamming the Shah or praising the Revolution. One of her classmates wrote about how religion and politics were inseparable and how Islam was a much superior religion. A+. The author wondered at how this classmate, educated with her in a secular way of equality for all for 9 years could write that?
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After reading Jimmy Carter's speech in Iran at New Year's celebrations he had chosen (rather than been invited) to attend, I realise that the root of all evil is not money but oil, at least between countries. Despite the brutality of Savak, the secret police, despite the Shah having made all political parties but one and any criticism of his regime illegal, the hypocritical Carter praises it's stability and human rights. Carter was always big on human rights when he didn't like a country or perhaps religion, but when he did, then he could ignore anything he didn't like.
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"If I leave, Iran will go down. If Iran goes down, the Middle East will go down. If the Middle East goes down, the world will suffer." Shah of Iran, January 1979, prior to exile in Egypt. Sometimes it seems the devil, the Shah, is the worst it can be, but it turns out that the deep blue sea, the Ayatollah Khomeini and his Islamic Republic was far far worse and those words were absolutely prophetic.

The disastrous conflicts in the Middle East and culturally related countries that begain in 1979 when the reign of the Shah fell, and the Ayatollah returned a 20th C country with freedoms for women, to a medieval religious republic where women were repressed to the utmost. A list.

In March of that year, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty and since the Israel-Palestinian conflict well predates the deposing of the Shah, I'm not going to write about that hereafter. A few days later elections in Iran would lead to a fundamentalist Islamic republic from Western freedom. A few days later, General Zia took power and imposed a sterner form of Islam on Pakistan.

In July, Sadaam Hussein becomes president of Iraq and there is an Islamist uprising in Syria. In November is the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran. November sees the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and on Christmas Day, the Soviets invade Afghanistan. The world of the Middle East and the countries bordering it or culturally related to it, has changed.

The next year, 1980 there is the start of 8 years of the Iran-Iraq war. In 1986, the South Yemen Civil war begins. The same year there are the bombings in Damascus. The next year, the Iranian pilgrim riot in Mecca. 1990 sees the Gulf war bringing in a hitherto peaceful Kuwait. In 1996 there is an Islamist insurgency in Saudi Arabia, a few years later a Shia one in Iraq which goes to war in 2003. 2007 it's Lebanon. The Shias get going again in Yemen in 2009, but Yemen cracks down on Al-Qaeda that year. 2011 and it's Bahrain, Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Iran, all in their various conflicts. Iraq, Turkey and the Kurds a few years later. And of course, ISIS, the evil that is more than all the other evil.

The Shah's prophecy certainly came true.

So a book that starts off with that final speech, looks interesting. The author grew up in Iran, the daughter of an Iranian and a British woman. One thing their cultures both had in common, so the book begins, is tea!

[Nika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was born in Tehran to a British mother and Iranian father, members of the Iranian Jewish community. Jacqueline Saper, named after Jacqueline Kennedy, spent her carefree childhood and teenage years in Iran under Mohammad Reza Shah, the second monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty. The girl often visited England, her mother's homeland, during summer holidays.

Despite living a pampered life in a spacious house and being surrounded by love and care, the young Jacqueline noticed mounting tensions and increasing polarization in Iranian society. Those reflections might be in retrospect but they are to the point.
She felt that her life in a (upper-)middle-class northern neighborhood was in many ways different from that of the people living in conservative southern neighborhoods of the Iranian capital.

Jacqueline mentions the consolidation of power by the Shah. To secure his rule, "The King of Kings" relied on Savak, the secret police that was geared towards scenting dissent among the population and stifling it in time. Despite those measures discontent among different strata was growing. Many ordinary people began to place their hopes in Ayatollah Khomeini, the cleric living in exile.
Everything changed when the Shah regime was overthrown and the Islamic Republic installed in the wake of the Islamic Revolution.
Jacqueline and her family had to adapt to the new reality and forget about the comfort to which they had been accustomed. Traveling internationally, fashionable clothes, western movies, and the newest books in foreign languages, all this was no longer on the map. The values associated with the Shah's "corrupt" regime and the West were regarded as a threat by the new regime.

As a religious minority, Jaqueline and her family feared discrimination measures. They had to decide whether or not they were going to stay. The choice was difficult. Jacqueline's sister left with her husband. Jacqueline's parents opted to stay put in the hope that the situation would soon improve. Her dad kept saying "Things will settle down somehow."
Time, unfortunately, would not corroborate his view.
Jacqueline also stayed in post-revolutionary Iran, and at the young age of eighteen, she married a surgeon. They moved to Shiraz and had two children.

Jacqueline testifies to limitations imposed on citizens, especially women, that were gradually intensifying. As a woman and a religious minority, she felt even more acutely the difference between her past life and the present moment and what being a second-class citizen meant.
The previous liberties were no longer on the map. New rules were being announced.
One day Saper was to discover that gender segregation was introduced even to public transportation. She had no choice but to play by the rules.
Jaqueline's hopes to continue her education were also shattered, as under the new regime knowing the Shia theology and ethics became a pre-condition to have access to higher education.

To make matters worse, the war broke out when Saddam Hussein decided to invade Iran. The author recollects how they had to endure deadly night air raids.
Small private parties where men and women without the hijab could interact and enjoy music, food, and even drinks, became a place of refuge from the outside world with its wars, restrictions, bans, and aggressive slogans.

Finally, Jacqueline with her husband and two children managed to flee Iran and ensconced in the US. A new chapter in Jacqueline's life has begun.
Many factors led to their decision to emigrate but the last straw was the fact that her six-year-old daughter was obliged to wear the hijab and subjected to explicit indoctrination at school.

Saying goodbye to your relatives, friends, and home is always hard. But Saper has a lot of memories that she brought along with her. Many of them were pleasant.
"I had spent eight memorable years of my life in this city [Shiraz]. These years had made me a better, stronger person and a more mature adult. I said a silent
farewell to my friends and neighbors. Goodbye, my lovely home. Thank you for all the good times we had amid the difficult encounters."

In addition to relating a personal story, the book offers certain glimpses into the life of the Jewish community in both pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary Iran. Jews and Muslims coexisted peacefully in Iran during the Shah era. Overall, the religious minorities enjoyed equal rights with the Muslim majority. The Islamic Revolution changed this.
At the same time, the author relates that the new rulers tried to distinguish, at least in words, between Zionism and Judaism. The first was considered an enemy, the second was not. However, the socio-political climate itself seemed to have encouraged some people to allow their prejudices and biases to come to the surface.
The most excluded group was the Baha’is who were deemed apostates. Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity were "recognized" by the new regime.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had been on my TBR list for a while, fairly low down on a long list, when I found out the audio version was being offered free to Audible members. These offers tend not to last for ever, so the book got bumped up to the top of my TBR!

The indicated that the author was born of an English mother and an Iranian father. Before starting I hadn’t realised the family were Jewish. The author comments that her life has been in 3 segments, the first prior to the Iranian Revolution, the second from then to 1986 when she escaped the country, and the third her subsequent life in the USA.

The first part of this memoir is quite “light” though I realise it is set out as a contrast to what followed. Saper describes her childhood and teens during the time of the Shah’s rule. Her family were middle class and her concerns were those of a typical teenage girl; friends, fashion, movies and school grades. She does remark however, that even then she was aware how Iran was a very divided country in terms of lifestyles and ideals. The westernized attitudes of the urban middle classes contrasted with those of the rural population and lower-income groups.

Listening to the book, it struck me that the Iranian Revolution was another event that arose from Utopianism. I understand of course why people want to get rid of autocratic rulers, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that better ones will follow. During the protests against the Shah, he was reviled as “The Devil” whilst Khomeini was “The Angel” (!). At one point people even believed they could see Khomeini’s face in the Moon. I find that type of devotion hard to understand, and so did the author.

After the Revolution, Saper found herself a second class citizen in two ways, one as a woman and the other as a member of a religious minority living in a theocracy. Non-Muslims were effectively barred from entering university as candidates had to pass a test in Shia theology to gain entry, irrespective of the subject. In theory the regime was anti-Israel rather than antisemitic, but did not always maintain the distinction. Saper did have some valued Muslim friends who provided her with support, but the new regime also allowed some other people to be confident about giving voice to extreme prejudices against non-Muslims, for example a belief that any object touched by a non-Muslim was “unclean”. Without saying so directly, the author opens up on her feelings of vulnerability, and the pervasive bullying by the regime’s notorious “morality police”, the members of which are the sort of people who delight in exercising power over others.

Things got even worse when Saddam Hussein launched his invasion of Iran in 1980, which turned into a sort of re-enactment of WW1, complete with trench warfare and poison gas, but which lasted eight years instead of four. The author lived through Iraqi bombing of Iranian cities, repeating her mother’s experience of living through aerial bombing during WW2.

We are sometimes told of a Chinese expression of goodwill that allegedly translates as “May you never live in interesting times”. Unfortunately for the author, that’s exactly what she did live through. It makes for a readable memoir, and an interesting insight into life in Iran during the 1980s.

[Laura Magid-Aloni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating biography and tale of the Iranian revolution from the perspective of the once thriving a Jewish Iranian minority. My only complaint and the reason for the 3 stars is that the story could have benefited from a thorough round of editing. Key points and even events repeat themselves through out the text. Maybe this was done purposely by the author to underscore feelings and experiences of particular importance, but it quickly comes off as poor writing.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Jacqueline Saper, daughter of a Jewish father and English mother - both Jewish, grew up in Iran both before and after the fall of the Shah. Her story is multifaceted - being a woman, being Jewish, in this tumultuous country. Her family staying during dangerous times echoes the Jews who stayed on in the WWII era.

[Ruthie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first person account of growing up in Iran and living thru the Revolution. Saper was raised in the tight knit Jewish community of Tehran. her father was Persian, her mother British, they saw the revolution begin, and yet stayed as the frightening changes occurred all around them. As friends and family fled the country Saper remained, forced to adapt to the harsh new laws and social norms. Through her eyes we see the growing religious fervour, and watch as the promises made to followers by the religious leaders are broken. We also get some insight as to why she and some others did not leave as soon as they saw what was happening.

Saper loves her home country and gives her clear eyed insight and accounting. She was a teenager, living a privileged, modern life and then watched it all come crashing down around her. The similarities with Jews who did not flee rising anti-Semitic laws in Europe prior to WW2 were there, and yet many did not believe this could happen again....

[Adela Durkee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a land far from my home, a girl grew up not unlike me. Jacqueline Saper's story exquisitely highlights how her life changed in a blink of an eye as the Ayatollah took power and changed the country of Iran.
I listened to a superb narration of the Audible version of Saper's book. Saper took me through her personal journey of disruption and tightening restrictions for women due to regime change. At the same time, I learned a lot about Iran that is rarely covered in today's news.
I highly recommend "From Miniskirt to Hijab" to anyone who is curious about how a modern democracy can become an oppressive theocratic country in a short time.
Saper agreed to talk to me about her experience as an author. You can find the interview here: https://wp.me/pq7Cz-3Wk.

[Elana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was for a book club so was fun to read something totally different I wouldn’t otherwise have picked. Learned lots about the Iranian revolution but was very steam of consciousness/rambly at times

[James Pond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book - from start to finish - the personal memoir of Jacqueline Saper's journey as an Iranian Jewish woman who was a teen during the 1970s and had a front-row seat to the 1979 revolution from the perspective of an insider and outsider. Her stories are engaging and give context to what has become ancient history to the masses and yet, should be a rallying call to pay attention to societal contours as they pertain to freedoms and rights.

I studied Middle Eastern affairs for years and found this a refreshing way to think about this time in history and what it means for today.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story. I’ve read other accounts of the fall of the Shah and the Iranian revolution, but they all end soon after the Ayatollah has taken over power. In this recounting, the family doesn’t leave until years later and is subject to all the crazy things like the morality police and six years olds in hajibs. This is a true story written in clear plain prose that is easy to read but difficult to imagine.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the writing is not the best, I enjoyed reading a firsthand account of a time and place I knew little about. It was especially interesting from a young woman's POV as her world dramatically changed.

[Ilana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually 3.5 Interesting general content related to the first years of the Islamic revolution, but was by far more interested in the life and personal experiences of the Persian Jews.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What an amazing journey and told so well.

[Alli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic audiobook (it’s free on Audible). Highly recommend. It’s also really well written—a unique take on the Iranian Revolution because she is half British, half Iranian, and also a Jew.

*very clean

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in 4 days; that tells you how good it is! Besides being a page turner, it's also a quick read because it is only 240 pages.

Jacqueline Saper takes the reader on a journey through two vastly different time periods in Iran. She starts with describing what it was like to be a female teen when the Shah was in power and Iranians enjoyed more freedoms. Then, Saper eloquently describes what it was like to be a young woman and a mother during Ayatollah Khomeni's oppressive rule. Adding another layer of interest, Saper also describes what it was like for a Jewish Iranian during both time periods.

I rarely give a book 5 stars, but From Miniskirt to Hijab: A Girl in Revolutionary Iran deserves this high rating.

[Lee Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for my sociology class, and I am glad that I did! I had no knowledge of the Iranian-Jews situation during the revolution. In fact, I did not know much about the Iranian Revolution at all. Yet, this book was an accurate depiction of what it was like as a minority young woman. I loved how she describe her family lineage and sweet memories like her bedroom above the garage in Tehran, and her first meeting with Ebi. I also loved how she describe the riots as they are similar to the Women's Freedom Fight over Mahsa Amini's murder. My professor is an Iranian-Italian woman who left the country when she was young, so I can imagine how she relates to this book. Nevertheless, I highly recommended reading this!

[Sharon Ganellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacqueline Saper writes a riveting account of her experience having grown up in pre-revolutionary Iran and how things changed once the shah left and the ayatollah took over. This is a factual firsthand account of what her life was like growing up in the Jewish community of Tehran and the changes she and others experienced. It provides a unique perspective into life in Iran during that time period and makes democracy and the ability to speak freely something to be treasured.

[Ashley Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable memoir of a girl growing into a woman throughout the tumult of the Iranian Revolution and the Iran–Iraq war. I learned a lot about the country and its history. Her story is truly palpable!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a work book club and I’m so glad I did! I knew very little about the Iranian Revolution beforehand, and reading the memoir of the before, during, and after from a religious minority’s perspective was eye opening.

[Lillian Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject, but little depth.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was able to finish because the subject matter was so interesting but a lot of the writing and esp. dialogue was pretty wooden.

[Amit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir of a Jewish woman born and brought up in pre-revolution Iran, who saw the fall of the Shah and return of Ayatollah Khomeini that saw her life, both as a woman and as a Jewish minority, is an important chronicle of the the republic. The title is a little disappointing as it feels like a hook for a Western gaze, but the book is more nuanced.

[Lynn Silverstein]

liked it a lot. Author lives in Northern suburbs

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in pe-revolutionary Iran as the daughter of an Iranian father and British mother who supported the Shah's regime, Jacqueline Saper was in for a rude awakening when as at eighteen she returned from a summer trip to her mother's native country to find her home in upheaval, with civil unrest soon spiralling into ever more violence, the overthrow of the monarchy and establishment of a fundamentalist regime ruthlessly supressing any hint of resistance, curtailing numerous freedoms she had been accustomed to, agitating ever more fiercely against the West, and soon plunged into a long war against Iraq. Through Saper's eyes, the readers witnesses the momentous changes in society encroaching ever more on private life through eight long years until in she and her husband along with their two young children finally manage to flee to the US in 1987. A riveting memoir well worth reading.

[Ashlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I launched myself into this book with no knowledge about revolutionary Iran and to be honest, very little interest in history in general. Therefore, I occasionally found the book a little uninteresting but overall it was a fascinating look into Jacqueline Saper's experience as a biracial, Jewish woman living in Iran during the revolution.

Whilst I wouldn't put it on a list of books I really enjoyed, I do admit this book taught me a lot.

In Australia, Islamic fashion has been a constant debate in parliament for the last 10 years. I am therefore grateful for Saper's insight what the hijab and other similar clothing items meant for women's freedom during a time of great turmoil. I'm glad I personally read this book, but wouldn't recommend it for everyone.

[Sher (in H-Town) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An information filled and recent historical account of a Jewish minority of mixed background growing up before and during the Iranian revolution.

I find the account interesting and the audio narration well done. The main character and the friends and family she describes are uniquely described.

With a bit of editing to rid of reputation and n focus more on specific events this memoir would have been somewhat less plodding. I found the overall content to be a bit slow and at times a little boring which completely differs from the life story told.

First read of 2022.

[Barbara Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me entranced from the beginning to the end.Having spent some time in Iran, I could relate to so much of what the author described.She was able to vividly transmit the difficult time that she was forced to live.She and her family went through so much upheaval in their lives yet she was able to take on a new and fulfilling life in the US.

[Kayla Schneiderman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the subject matter is difficult, the story is an easy read, and maintained my interest throughout. I found it most interesting to read a first hand account of a young girl who lives a care free life under the Shah's more progressive rule to living under the the repressive religious regime of the Ayatollahs. I highly recommend this fascinating first hand account.

[Mary Luba · Rating 4 out of 5]

A personal account providing a glimpse into the ongoing instability in the middle east. Felt a little repetitive at times but it served as a reminder of the daily uncertainty and fear she lived through

[Karen Schlosberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacqueline Saper's writing provides a comprehensive backdrop to Iran's metamorphosis from a country influenced by the progressive Shah to the frightening and repressive regime under the Ayatollah. The book is a page turner. Easy to read and captivating writing style.