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My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran
My Prison, My Home is the harrowing true story of Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari’s arrest on false charges and subsequent incarceration in Evin Prison, the most notorious penitentiary in Ahmadinejad’s Iran. Esfandiari’s riveting, deeply personal, and illuminating first-person account of her ordeal is the inspiring tale of one woman’s triumph over interrogation, intimidation, and fear. Offering a shocking, close-up view inside the paranoid mindset of the repressive Ahmadinejad regime, My Prison, My Home sheds light on a high-stakes international incident that sparked protests from some of the world’s most influential public figures—including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
87 people are currently reading
961 people want to read
About the author
Haleh Esfandiari
8 books16 followersHaleh Esfandiari is a distinguished Iranian-American public intellectual. The founding director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, she is the former deputy secretary general of the Women’s Organization of Iran and has taught at Princeton University. She has worked in Iran as a journalist and is the author of Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran’s Islamic Revolution and My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran. She lives in Maryland with her husband, Shaul Bakhash, a professor at George Mason University.
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August 18, 2019
After finishing the memoir 'My Prison, My Home' by Haleh Esfandiari, my strongest gut reaction, as usual, is that I am incredibly annoyed and flabbergasted once again by a person(s) who ignored all obvious danger signals.
Anyway.
Esfandiari is a fortunate woman in many ways. She is highly educated. Her family is upper class. She enjoys the benefits of money, being educated in the best schools, and has received the most highly-prized academic degrees. She has high-powered and highly-placed respected peers, co-workers, neighbors and friends. She is a respected intellectual. She is the founding director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Middle East Program. She was the former deputy secretary general of the Women's Organization of Iran and has taught at Princeton. As a young woman, she worked in Iran as a journalist, and she is an author of many books. Judging from 'My Prison, My Home', she is an excellent literary and memoir writer. I was struck by her frank honesty and obvious intelligence (and political-street blindness).
The author was born March 3, 1940 in Tehran to a wealthy landed Iranian father and a mother from Vienna, Austria, who was born into a wealthy family of merchants. Her family appears extremely educated and connected, very worldly, possessing European sophistication and aware of the necessary duties of their class to better Iranian society and American-Iran relations. Her family is proud of many past family predecessors who served Iran, holding important government positions. It appears to me Esfandairi has been carrying on the family tradition of public and government service, at present for bettering the relationship between Iran's people and the United States, writing important academic papers and articles, teaching and giving speeches for women's rights. It was downloads of these writings from the Internet, freely available, with which her Iranian prison interrogators used to browbeat her.
Besides describing the Iranian-American author's travails after being accused of being a spy for the United States while visiting her widowed mother in Tehran in 2006, arrested and jailed in the notorious Evin Prison, the book also is a concise and interesting political history about Iran, including an inside view, for the last few decades. It briefly, but informatively and objectively, describes the difficult politics between the United States and Iran while describing the author's life story from childhood - her eight-month vacation in Austria after World War II in 1945 when Esfandairi was six - her first exposure to the West - and her experiences after she returned to Vienna to attend university in Vienna. She met and married a Jewish man Shaul (she is Muslim), who worked for an English-language newspaper in Tehran, in 1964.
After marriage, Shaul returned to Harvard with his new wife, and soon they had a daughter. Esfandiari's mother refused to leave Tehran, thus the author went to her mother in Tehran despite her publicized marriage to a Jewish man (death penalty by stoning for Muslim women who marry outside their faith required by Islam), her American-Iranian status (there have been MANY MANY MANY publicized cases of innocent American-Iranians who travelled to Iran being arrested and convicted of being American spies in Iran, again and again and again), her published academic writings and sponsorships and work arranging seminars and meetings about political philosophies and Iran for intellectuals, including those banned by Islamic authoritarian governments, her publicized jobs in prestigious American think tanks which are frequently consulted with by the American government and various unconnected government agencies, etc.
What Iran's Intelligence Ministry believed was that the Wilson Center, for whom Esfandiari had worked, was a CIA front, and the meetings and invitations Esfandiari arranged for visiting dignitaries and intellectuals for discussions and exchanges of ideas, especially those from Iran, were for the purpose of recruiting spies and insulting Iran and Islam. They believed the Wilson Center was part of a world-domination plan by the United States, especially and particularly against Iran, maybe even only Iran, before anyone else. For example, our political relationship with Israel is solely about destroying Iran in their one-dimensional view of the world.
The interrogations were high-flown and very intellectual, the discussions about high-end political thoughts and ideas, even though clearly the Iranian 'Intelligence' folk had nothing but tunnel vision. Their questions were full of the stupid assumed conclusions developed from narrow-minded and rigid theological horsesh*t which is always the single main characteristic of the speech of purists of political cant and the closed-door mentality of government "intelligence" departments. My opinion, not expressed in the book.
In reading of what the members of the Iranian "intelligence" thought of what to the West are some, and broadly thought about, common ideas, generally available to the public in thousands of readily available books in public libraries or bookstores in the West in many languages, often applicable to any and all governments, or information which is taught in high-end university or regular Western college classrooms, usually in a section of 201 or 301 introductory classes, these general and logical philosophical ideas and academic political theories were used as accusations against her as evidence of her "crimes" against Iran. The bizarre twisted questions her interrogators flung at her in daily interrogations reminded of what I have read of what questions were asked in many many many closed and censored authoritarian regimes and theocracies. She is a traitor to them, and what was her normalized and generic logical ideas were for the "intelligence" officers secret messages and ideas to spies in Iran and America, designed to pollute Iranians and overthrow the Iranian leadership.
The "Iran Intelligence Ministry" is full of the same ideological-blinkered and unsophisticated and untraveled small-minded politically-religious idiots that questioned the Vietnam POWs, and those unfortunate people imprisoned in the Cambodian Kmer Rouge prisons, and those arrested by any of the Russian's "intelligence" services past and present, Mao's old and Xi's new China Red Guards, and many of the revolutionary African Islamic "freedom fighters", to speak of a few among those I have read about. "Intelligence" organizations everywhere really are trying hard to make George Orwell's fictional novel 1984 real. American "intelligence" services appear to join in in this insanity with full impunity every time the Republican Party wins office.
Whatever. Clearly the fictional 'Thought Police' have real-life analogues in Iran at the moment, gentle reader. Makes me want to jump right in and accept the Iranian leadership, their ideology, and their government! Not.
This is an excellent book, and I recommend it. Esfandiari's tone is that of a controlled academic diplomat, even-handed and fair. She was almost always polite despite her fear, and she played it straight and careful, even with her jailors and interrogators. Very commendable and appropriate, under the circumstances.
That said, I want to express a gut reaction I had. It is cranky-rant time. Perhaps, gentle reader, stop here. For the rest of you, read on.
These traveling folks! who basically walk blithely into a metaphorical field of buried land mines, appear to expect somehow that they will not make the mistake of stepping on a mine, or they believe being blown up can't happen to them. After the click of having stepped on top of a metaphorical mine is heard, all they can do is feel shocked and amazed horror, wring their hands with an "oops" offered as the only apology their friends or worried family will ever get for the stress, sorrow, worry and financial burden their stupidity has imposed on the family.
This is basically Esfandiari's mistake - she walked blithely and knowingly into a mine field, but she thought she was immune to the danger. My opinion, not hers. I cannot understand people who do this. I literally have never walked knowingly into any mine fields, metaphorically or not, if I have seen warning signs. There were plenty of notices of the dangers for Iranians who had ANY Western affiliations, no matter how slight. Millions of Iranians are KNOWN to have been slaughtered by the Iranian government simply for expressing opinions at work or in local restaurants or in Iranian schoolrooms or even in other countries! Or because of the suspicion of local religious police groups over mundane nonpolitical jobs people had before the "Revolution!', much less the certain death of those who previously held openly political employment in overthrown regimes.
I felt the same way when:
"On July 31, 2009, three Americans, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer were taken into custody by Iranian border guards for crossing into Iran while hiking near the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan."
"Iran subsequently claimed the three were spies but was never able to offer any evidence to support its contention."
"Sarah Shourd was released 14 months later on "humanitarian grounds". Fattal and Bauer were convicted of "illegal entry" and "espionage" two years after their arrest and each sentenced to eight years in prison, but were released on September 21, 2011. Each of the detainees was released after payment of 5 billion rial (about US$465,000) bail was arranged by the Sultan of Oman."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009–11...
Ffs! Pianos have to fall on some people's heads before they believe the shouts that a piano is above them falling down!
Gentle reader, I am aware of most of the usual explanations, arguments and justifications - the action they were doing was their legal right, or they were morally right, or they hadn't hurt anyone, or it was an honest mistake (as in the case of the Americans hikers, despite their choosing to hike in a dangerous war-wrecked, culturally-primitive [8th-century religious grudges and 21st-century impoverishment] backcountry area in Iraq during a dangerous time where Americans are hated by half of the locals).
People shouldn't be blamed for their blind faith in their personal ideology to see them through, or condemned for another's evil actions and consequent guilt.
However.
But.
I do blame these benighted fools. I do so because the minefield was clearly marked by a sign and the person involved read the sign, and climbed over it anyway.
I palm my face when I've told someone the stove burner is red hot and they put their hand on it fully anyway, getting a second degree burn. Or you've explained a car's brakes are going out and it shouldn't be driven, but a family member drives it away anyway for a highway spin and crashes. Or a road has been blocked off by authorities because it is flooded, but a driver goes around the barrier and drowns in the overflowing river. Or hikers or skiers are told they should not go here or there on a mountain trail or to an ice cave because of melting snow or avalanche dangers - but they do, and they are crushed from an avalanche.
I know many people want to rush to help - I do, too - but at the same time, my first thought, the very first uppermost angry irritated thought - is some people are too stupid to live. Haley Esfandiari was VERY lucky.
Anyway.
Esfandiari is a fortunate woman in many ways. She is highly educated. Her family is upper class. She enjoys the benefits of money, being educated in the best schools, and has received the most highly-prized academic degrees. She has high-powered and highly-placed respected peers, co-workers, neighbors and friends. She is a respected intellectual. She is the founding director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Middle East Program. She was the former deputy secretary general of the Women's Organization of Iran and has taught at Princeton. As a young woman, she worked in Iran as a journalist, and she is an author of many books. Judging from 'My Prison, My Home', she is an excellent literary and memoir writer. I was struck by her frank honesty and obvious intelligence (and political-street blindness).
The author was born March 3, 1940 in Tehran to a wealthy landed Iranian father and a mother from Vienna, Austria, who was born into a wealthy family of merchants. Her family appears extremely educated and connected, very worldly, possessing European sophistication and aware of the necessary duties of their class to better Iranian society and American-Iran relations. Her family is proud of many past family predecessors who served Iran, holding important government positions. It appears to me Esfandairi has been carrying on the family tradition of public and government service, at present for bettering the relationship between Iran's people and the United States, writing important academic papers and articles, teaching and giving speeches for women's rights. It was downloads of these writings from the Internet, freely available, with which her Iranian prison interrogators used to browbeat her.
Besides describing the Iranian-American author's travails after being accused of being a spy for the United States while visiting her widowed mother in Tehran in 2006, arrested and jailed in the notorious Evin Prison, the book also is a concise and interesting political history about Iran, including an inside view, for the last few decades. It briefly, but informatively and objectively, describes the difficult politics between the United States and Iran while describing the author's life story from childhood - her eight-month vacation in Austria after World War II in 1945 when Esfandairi was six - her first exposure to the West - and her experiences after she returned to Vienna to attend university in Vienna. She met and married a Jewish man Shaul (she is Muslim), who worked for an English-language newspaper in Tehran, in 1964.
After marriage, Shaul returned to Harvard with his new wife, and soon they had a daughter. Esfandiari's mother refused to leave Tehran, thus the author went to her mother in Tehran despite her publicized marriage to a Jewish man (death penalty by stoning for Muslim women who marry outside their faith required by Islam), her American-Iranian status (there have been MANY MANY MANY publicized cases of innocent American-Iranians who travelled to Iran being arrested and convicted of being American spies in Iran, again and again and again), her published academic writings and sponsorships and work arranging seminars and meetings about political philosophies and Iran for intellectuals, including those banned by Islamic authoritarian governments, her publicized jobs in prestigious American think tanks which are frequently consulted with by the American government and various unconnected government agencies, etc.
What Iran's Intelligence Ministry believed was that the Wilson Center, for whom Esfandiari had worked, was a CIA front, and the meetings and invitations Esfandiari arranged for visiting dignitaries and intellectuals for discussions and exchanges of ideas, especially those from Iran, were for the purpose of recruiting spies and insulting Iran and Islam. They believed the Wilson Center was part of a world-domination plan by the United States, especially and particularly against Iran, maybe even only Iran, before anyone else. For example, our political relationship with Israel is solely about destroying Iran in their one-dimensional view of the world.
The interrogations were high-flown and very intellectual, the discussions about high-end political thoughts and ideas, even though clearly the Iranian 'Intelligence' folk had nothing but tunnel vision. Their questions were full of the stupid assumed conclusions developed from narrow-minded and rigid theological horsesh*t which is always the single main characteristic of the speech of purists of political cant and the closed-door mentality of government "intelligence" departments. My opinion, not expressed in the book.
In reading of what the members of the Iranian "intelligence" thought of what to the West are some, and broadly thought about, common ideas, generally available to the public in thousands of readily available books in public libraries or bookstores in the West in many languages, often applicable to any and all governments, or information which is taught in high-end university or regular Western college classrooms, usually in a section of 201 or 301 introductory classes, these general and logical philosophical ideas and academic political theories were used as accusations against her as evidence of her "crimes" against Iran. The bizarre twisted questions her interrogators flung at her in daily interrogations reminded of what I have read of what questions were asked in many many many closed and censored authoritarian regimes and theocracies. She is a traitor to them, and what was her normalized and generic logical ideas were for the "intelligence" officers secret messages and ideas to spies in Iran and America, designed to pollute Iranians and overthrow the Iranian leadership.
The "Iran Intelligence Ministry" is full of the same ideological-blinkered and unsophisticated and untraveled small-minded politically-religious idiots that questioned the Vietnam POWs, and those unfortunate people imprisoned in the Cambodian Kmer Rouge prisons, and those arrested by any of the Russian's "intelligence" services past and present, Mao's old and Xi's new China Red Guards, and many of the revolutionary African Islamic "freedom fighters", to speak of a few among those I have read about. "Intelligence" organizations everywhere really are trying hard to make George Orwell's fictional novel 1984 real. American "intelligence" services appear to join in in this insanity with full impunity every time the Republican Party wins office.
Whatever. Clearly the fictional 'Thought Police' have real-life analogues in Iran at the moment, gentle reader. Makes me want to jump right in and accept the Iranian leadership, their ideology, and their government! Not.
This is an excellent book, and I recommend it. Esfandiari's tone is that of a controlled academic diplomat, even-handed and fair. She was almost always polite despite her fear, and she played it straight and careful, even with her jailors and interrogators. Very commendable and appropriate, under the circumstances.
That said, I want to express a gut reaction I had. It is cranky-rant time. Perhaps, gentle reader, stop here. For the rest of you, read on.
These traveling folks! who basically walk blithely into a metaphorical field of buried land mines, appear to expect somehow that they will not make the mistake of stepping on a mine, or they believe being blown up can't happen to them. After the click of having stepped on top of a metaphorical mine is heard, all they can do is feel shocked and amazed horror, wring their hands with an "oops" offered as the only apology their friends or worried family will ever get for the stress, sorrow, worry and financial burden their stupidity has imposed on the family.
This is basically Esfandiari's mistake - she walked blithely and knowingly into a mine field, but she thought she was immune to the danger. My opinion, not hers. I cannot understand people who do this. I literally have never walked knowingly into any mine fields, metaphorically or not, if I have seen warning signs. There were plenty of notices of the dangers for Iranians who had ANY Western affiliations, no matter how slight. Millions of Iranians are KNOWN to have been slaughtered by the Iranian government simply for expressing opinions at work or in local restaurants or in Iranian schoolrooms or even in other countries! Or because of the suspicion of local religious police groups over mundane nonpolitical jobs people had before the "Revolution!', much less the certain death of those who previously held openly political employment in overthrown regimes.
I felt the same way when:
"On July 31, 2009, three Americans, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer were taken into custody by Iranian border guards for crossing into Iran while hiking near the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan."
"Iran subsequently claimed the three were spies but was never able to offer any evidence to support its contention."
"Sarah Shourd was released 14 months later on "humanitarian grounds". Fattal and Bauer were convicted of "illegal entry" and "espionage" two years after their arrest and each sentenced to eight years in prison, but were released on September 21, 2011. Each of the detainees was released after payment of 5 billion rial (about US$465,000) bail was arranged by the Sultan of Oman."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009–11...
Ffs! Pianos have to fall on some people's heads before they believe the shouts that a piano is above them falling down!
Gentle reader, I am aware of most of the usual explanations, arguments and justifications - the action they were doing was their legal right, or they were morally right, or they hadn't hurt anyone, or it was an honest mistake (as in the case of the Americans hikers, despite their choosing to hike in a dangerous war-wrecked, culturally-primitive [8th-century religious grudges and 21st-century impoverishment] backcountry area in Iraq during a dangerous time where Americans are hated by half of the locals).
People shouldn't be blamed for their blind faith in their personal ideology to see them through, or condemned for another's evil actions and consequent guilt.
However.
But.
I do blame these benighted fools. I do so because the minefield was clearly marked by a sign and the person involved read the sign, and climbed over it anyway.
I palm my face when I've told someone the stove burner is red hot and they put their hand on it fully anyway, getting a second degree burn. Or you've explained a car's brakes are going out and it shouldn't be driven, but a family member drives it away anyway for a highway spin and crashes. Or a road has been blocked off by authorities because it is flooded, but a driver goes around the barrier and drowns in the overflowing river. Or hikers or skiers are told they should not go here or there on a mountain trail or to an ice cave because of melting snow or avalanche dangers - but they do, and they are crushed from an avalanche.
I know many people want to rush to help - I do, too - but at the same time, my first thought, the very first uppermost angry irritated thought - is some people are too stupid to live. Haley Esfandiari was VERY lucky.
May 24, 2015
My Prison, My Home, is a glimpse into the two worlds that Haleh lives in. Her discussion of her time as a prisoner in Iran is sensitive and calmly told, but there’s also a feeling that she’s holding back a little bit – rightly so, as though there is still a fear that she could be again held prisoner by her home country.
The paranoia and suspicions of the government and a culture of disagreement with the US leads the way for Haleh to be held on flimsy intimations of working with the CIA and secret service agencies to subvert Iranian politics.
Throughout her tales of robbery, appointments and eventual incarceration at Evin prison, Haleh provides a biography of her own life, as well as the relationship between Iran and the US. Documenting the Revolution and other significant events in Iran’s recent history, Haleh intersperses her story with that of Iran as a nation.
The historical tales of Iran can be dry reading, and the personal account of time spent incarcerated feels slightly censored. However the deeper meaning of the book is Haleh’s strength and will, and her ability to overcome such an ordeal with grace and a continued love for Iran.
October 5, 2015
He would raise my hopes, then come back and apologize. A new "hurdle" had arisen, he would say; there was a gereh - "a knot" - to untie. Given all these knots, I thought, we could have woven a whole Persian carpet. ^_^
February 12, 2011
A touching story but too much detail.
Iranian American, Haleh Esfandiari was wrongly accused of spying for America, against Iran, and imprisoned for 105 days in the notorious Evin prison. She had made America her home and raised a family there with her Jewish husband, Saleh. She had been working as a teacher and advisor, endeavouring to improve understanding between the two countries.
Haleh, aged 69, was on a routine visit to her Austrian mother, still living in Iran (her Iranian father had passed away) when she was "mugged" while travelling by taxi to the airport, both her passports were stolen but her nightmare had only just begun.
For months she was harassed by the authorities; brought in for questioning about her activities in America on a daily basis. She was unable to travel and was also abandonded by many of her friends who could no longer risk being associated with her. This culminated with her incarceration, during which she lost 20lb - 20% of her body weight, her arthritus flared up and she had extreme problems with her eyes.
I am sorry to be marking this book down to 3 stars, but a review is a personal opinion and I found this too full of detail in many respects. The Iranian politics, while relevant, could have been abreviated, the full list of peole who had helped in the fight for her release was unnecessary and it took half the book before Ms Esfandiari actually set foot inside the prison. I appreciate that this much detail suits some people - Amazon.com has many glowing reviews - but it has taken me 9 months and 13 renewal stamps in my book before I reached the end, so for me, while interesting, it was just a 3* read.
Iranian American, Haleh Esfandiari was wrongly accused of spying for America, against Iran, and imprisoned for 105 days in the notorious Evin prison. She had made America her home and raised a family there with her Jewish husband, Saleh. She had been working as a teacher and advisor, endeavouring to improve understanding between the two countries.
Haleh, aged 69, was on a routine visit to her Austrian mother, still living in Iran (her Iranian father had passed away) when she was "mugged" while travelling by taxi to the airport, both her passports were stolen but her nightmare had only just begun.
For months she was harassed by the authorities; brought in for questioning about her activities in America on a daily basis. She was unable to travel and was also abandonded by many of her friends who could no longer risk being associated with her. This culminated with her incarceration, during which she lost 20lb - 20% of her body weight, her arthritus flared up and she had extreme problems with her eyes.
I am sorry to be marking this book down to 3 stars, but a review is a personal opinion and I found this too full of detail in many respects. The Iranian politics, while relevant, could have been abreviated, the full list of peole who had helped in the fight for her release was unnecessary and it took half the book before Ms Esfandiari actually set foot inside the prison. I appreciate that this much detail suits some people - Amazon.com has many glowing reviews - but it has taken me 9 months and 13 renewal stamps in my book before I reached the end, so for me, while interesting, it was just a 3* read.
September 8, 2010
This book was good for those (like me) who get depressed when they hear so much about the oppressions of the Middle East, but still feel like they should know *something* and be informed about the history of our relationship with that part of the world. The author does a great job of laying out why things are so tense between Iran and the U.S. and how things need to change.
She also talks quite a bit about the government of Iran, and why you are able to be held by one department while the another group feels like you are innocent and should be released. This caused so much strife for the author who was told one day that she would be leaving, only to be arrested and put into solitary confinement the next day. She also talks about how the government doesn't follow it's own constitution, and that's what caused her (and many others) to be locked away for so long. She had a lawyer, but she was never allowed to speak to her (for the whole time-105 days- that she was locked up) nor was that lawyer ever allowed to see any documents the state had in regards to her case. The author loves her Iran, she was born there and her mother still lives there. But she just wants them to return to being just. Expect more of their people, enforce the constitution, and really care about it's citizens. Because in the end, she says that is the real problem: Those that are in charge just don't really care about anyone in the country they lead.
She also talks quite a bit about the government of Iran, and why you are able to be held by one department while the another group feels like you are innocent and should be released. This caused so much strife for the author who was told one day that she would be leaving, only to be arrested and put into solitary confinement the next day. She also talks about how the government doesn't follow it's own constitution, and that's what caused her (and many others) to be locked away for so long. She had a lawyer, but she was never allowed to speak to her (for the whole time-105 days- that she was locked up) nor was that lawyer ever allowed to see any documents the state had in regards to her case. The author loves her Iran, she was born there and her mother still lives there. But she just wants them to return to being just. Expect more of their people, enforce the constitution, and really care about it's citizens. Because in the end, she says that is the real problem: Those that are in charge just don't really care about anyone in the country they lead.
April 19, 2015
I have the privilege of working to some extent with the author, whom I met as part of my work, before knowing of this amazing personal story. What she does is to weave between her family's history in Iran, the tragedy of the Islamic Republic and its failed relationships with the West, and her bizarre and frightening experience imprisoned for 106 days as a purported spy. The pieces that are most successful or her own narrative in the background of her family. Unfortunately the telling of Iranian political history and its engagement with United States and the rest the world is more perfunctory. Dr. Esfandiari is a professor of literature, not political science, and her discussion reads like a synopsis of several international relations textbooks rather than an expert analysis in its own right. So by weaving her family history and the narrative of her imprisonment amongst the political writings, she unfortunately makes her own gripping tale less salient. Had she written only about her own story and the family background which she describes so beautifully, this book might have been a five star rather than a four star review.
February 22, 2018
Haleh was born in Iran to an Austrian mother. She moved to the USA to teach with her husband and got American citizenship, but returns to Iran frequently to take care of her elderly mom. At the end of her most recent visit, she says good bye to her mom and heads off to the airport when her taxi is run off the road and she is robbed. The robbers take both Haleh's Iranian and American passport plus all of her belongings but don't touch anything of the taxi driver's. As Haleh determines what is required to get new passports re-printed, she soon learns that's the least of her worries. The Intelligence Ministry has decided that Heleh is trying to organize a revolution in Iran and interrogate her. Nothing she says can deter them from these thoughts.
Weeks turn in to months as Heleh answers these questions. The academic work she has done in the USA is very suspicious to the Ministry. They keep asking her the same questions over and over. Heleh has a few contacts that try to help her and she finds out that two factions within the government are in disagreement about her. One wants to let her go, one thinks she's hiding information. The latter wins and Heleh is put in solitary confinement in jail. Her husband, back in the USA, launches a full-fledged media offensive. If the information Heleh is providing isn't enough to get her released, the perhaps pressure from other influential people will.
As Heleh explains what happens to her, some background on Iran's history also needs to be provided to explain how the country got to the point where it's accusing dual citizens of revolution. While this information is helpful and necessary to paint the picture, Heleh provided way too much of it. There was about 35 pages at the beginning of the book describing Heleh's past and Iran's past. It was pretty dry and I found myself skimming.
What happened to Heleh, how she overcame it, and the impact to her family is the meat of this story. It's a shocking story about how an innocent grandmother can be treated.
Weeks turn in to months as Heleh answers these questions. The academic work she has done in the USA is very suspicious to the Ministry. They keep asking her the same questions over and over. Heleh has a few contacts that try to help her and she finds out that two factions within the government are in disagreement about her. One wants to let her go, one thinks she's hiding information. The latter wins and Heleh is put in solitary confinement in jail. Her husband, back in the USA, launches a full-fledged media offensive. If the information Heleh is providing isn't enough to get her released, the perhaps pressure from other influential people will.
As Heleh explains what happens to her, some background on Iran's history also needs to be provided to explain how the country got to the point where it's accusing dual citizens of revolution. While this information is helpful and necessary to paint the picture, Heleh provided way too much of it. There was about 35 pages at the beginning of the book describing Heleh's past and Iran's past. It was pretty dry and I found myself skimming.
What happened to Heleh, how she overcame it, and the impact to her family is the meat of this story. It's a shocking story about how an innocent grandmother can be treated.
December 14, 2025
More Relevant?
As I read this book about the ordeal of the author, Haleh Esfandiari I couldn't help but ponder our world here in America under our current administration. Are we ever TRULY free or can it be taken away upon the whim of a leader in any country? I USED to believe freedom was a given, that it was permanent and further, that no one would WANT to take it away. How naive I was! I have come to believe in a very short time that unless we are ALL free, NONE of us is free!
This book is about the author, in her 60's, married, working for a pro democracy organization returns to Iran, the place of her birth to visit her dear mother who was in her 90's. She misses her and wants to be sure she's okay. The women are thrilled to see each other again, going to dinner and visiting friends as a long time friend of the family drives them around. However soon things take an ominous turn for the worse. Their car is suddenly stopped by several men as they are on their way home and the men rob them -- including the author's passport. At first, though scary and a hassle to have to apply for another passport, they think it was "just" a robbery. The author soon learns that is not the case as interrogated after being summoned to the office of the Intelligence Ministry. Mrs Esfandiari's work is highly suspicious in Iran because she lives in America, is married to a Jewish man, and her career affiliation promotes democracy. The author is imprisoned in the Evin prison, placed in solitary confinement and put through daily interrogation due to the officials belief that she is promoting democracy even in THEIR country. She is in Iran, stuck for months and must convince them to return the passport that THEIR government robbed her of.
The book is well written but there were several areas that seemed boring to me or dragged and didn't hold my interest consistently. I probably would have gone for 3.5 stars IF we had half stars but I didn't feel right giving it 4.
As I read this book about the ordeal of the author, Haleh Esfandiari I couldn't help but ponder our world here in America under our current administration. Are we ever TRULY free or can it be taken away upon the whim of a leader in any country? I USED to believe freedom was a given, that it was permanent and further, that no one would WANT to take it away. How naive I was! I have come to believe in a very short time that unless we are ALL free, NONE of us is free!
This book is about the author, in her 60's, married, working for a pro democracy organization returns to Iran, the place of her birth to visit her dear mother who was in her 90's. She misses her and wants to be sure she's okay. The women are thrilled to see each other again, going to dinner and visiting friends as a long time friend of the family drives them around. However soon things take an ominous turn for the worse. Their car is suddenly stopped by several men as they are on their way home and the men rob them -- including the author's passport. At first, though scary and a hassle to have to apply for another passport, they think it was "just" a robbery. The author soon learns that is not the case as interrogated after being summoned to the office of the Intelligence Ministry. Mrs Esfandiari's work is highly suspicious in Iran because she lives in America, is married to a Jewish man, and her career affiliation promotes democracy. The author is imprisoned in the Evin prison, placed in solitary confinement and put through daily interrogation due to the officials belief that she is promoting democracy even in THEIR country. She is in Iran, stuck for months and must convince them to return the passport that THEIR government robbed her of.
The book is well written but there were several areas that seemed boring to me or dragged and didn't hold my interest consistently. I probably would have gone for 3.5 stars IF we had half stars but I didn't feel right giving it 4.
June 24, 2023
Haleh Esfandari was born in Iran in 1940. She left Iran in 1979, she moved to the U.S. in 1980. She's worked at the Woodrow Wilson International Center For Scolars in Washington, D.C. for many years. During a visit to Iran in 2007 when she'd been visiting her family, she was arrested for absolutely no reason whatsoever, and she'd spent nearly four months in prison. Iranian intelligence agents had claimed that they were suspicious of her because she'd been the director of The Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, and therefore she could have been advising politicians in the U.S. about policy towards Iran.
A number of politicians including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Condoleezza Rice and a number of other senators were eventually able to get her released from the prison.
In "My Prison, My Home," we read about a government of a country which is doing a glorious job of destroying itself, a country in which the government's intelligence agents are suspicious of everyone and everything, a country in which people are routinely arrested and imprisoned for no reason whatsoever. We see Haleh Esfandari's determination which enabled her to survive imprisonment, and we see how her experiences while she'd been in prison have partially traumatized and scarred her now that she has regained her freedom.
If you're interested in Middle East political issues, if you're interested in reading about modern rogue regimes in the 21st century, or if you're interested in survival stories then you will enjoy reading "My Prison, My Home".
A number of politicians including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Condoleezza Rice and a number of other senators were eventually able to get her released from the prison.
In "My Prison, My Home," we read about a government of a country which is doing a glorious job of destroying itself, a country in which the government's intelligence agents are suspicious of everyone and everything, a country in which people are routinely arrested and imprisoned for no reason whatsoever. We see Haleh Esfandari's determination which enabled her to survive imprisonment, and we see how her experiences while she'd been in prison have partially traumatized and scarred her now that she has regained her freedom.
If you're interested in Middle East political issues, if you're interested in reading about modern rogue regimes in the 21st century, or if you're interested in survival stories then you will enjoy reading "My Prison, My Home".
April 28, 2020
This is a very interesting story by a well educated dual citizen who works for a governmental US agency but gets arrested in Iran and thrown wrongfully into Evin Prison because the Iranian secret police try to prove she is a spy. (Or rather just another dissident that perhaps is causing them issues or poor image.) It is a memoir of her time in prison (105 days) and what it took to get her released. It is interesting because in her late 60's she is an academic that is able to use mind over matter to endure ridiculous interrogations and to stay positive in solitary confinement. I sometimes though that if it had been me in my 40's I wouldn't have even been able to remember the repetitive detail of events and information that the secret police harassed her to report on over and over. Although definitely a good read to understand the way dictatorship's try to keep themselves powerful, I found there to be a lot of history and political background which made it like reading a text book versus a memoir and harder to get through. Finally, it still pains me that she is not able to return to Iran which she still loves and to her mother who likely has passed but was in her mid 90's in 2008. Once she left the country she would not be allowed to safely come back and pretty much had to give up her homeland.
September 2, 2017
Beautifully written!
I have always enjoyed true stories, but so often they're not written well, especially when it's a memoir. That wasn't the case here. From the moment her car was ambushed to her arrest and eventual release, I felt like I was right there with her.
I chose this book partly because the story appealed to me but mostly because of the setting, Iran. My late-grandfather worked for the airlines and was always being sent to different places around the world. My mother even graduated high school in Kenya! But, like this author, my late-grandmother worked for a newspaper in Tehran though as a proofreader. They and my 2 uncles and aunt were evacuated when Ayatollah Khomeini returned.
I have always enjoyed true stories, but so often they're not written well, especially when it's a memoir. That wasn't the case here. From the moment her car was ambushed to her arrest and eventual release, I felt like I was right there with her.
I chose this book partly because the story appealed to me but mostly because of the setting, Iran. My late-grandfather worked for the airlines and was always being sent to different places around the world. My mother even graduated high school in Kenya! But, like this author, my late-grandmother worked for a newspaper in Tehran though as a proofreader. They and my 2 uncles and aunt were evacuated when Ayatollah Khomeini returned.
August 5, 2017
An amazing story that reflects the tenacity of the human spirit. I found her story to be well-rounded and very detailed. I could feel her story because I could see myself embroiled in such a horrible situation. It is a story that evokes strong emotions. That being said, I also thought the political history was a bit much. I knew in the telling that she wanted the reader to understand the political climate that brought about much of what she and many others endured, but I wish it had been kept at a minimum with the focus largely being placed on her. Nonetheless, it was still a greatl read.
May 1, 2023
This one will stick with me.
I feel like the author was somewhat restrained and academic in telling her story, but she was still brave to share the details she did. I appreciated the chapters on the political history of the area as well as it’s something I’ve wanted to understand better and played into explaining the environment that resulted in her false imprisonment. It was dry, but I still appreciated its inclusion.
I found this book when looking for one to complete my Read the World Challenge. It did exactly what I’m hoping to get out of the challenge, a greater understanding and perspective outside of my experience in the US.
I feel like the author was somewhat restrained and academic in telling her story, but she was still brave to share the details she did. I appreciated the chapters on the political history of the area as well as it’s something I’ve wanted to understand better and played into explaining the environment that resulted in her false imprisonment. It was dry, but I still appreciated its inclusion.
I found this book when looking for one to complete my Read the World Challenge. It did exactly what I’m hoping to get out of the challenge, a greater understanding and perspective outside of my experience in the US.
August 3, 2017
Ms. Esfandiari writes in a clear and concise way. It would be easy to become melodramatic after going through this kind of hell, but she keeps to the facts, painting a picture of life in a country where an innocent job can get you thrown in prison as a spy. She tells her story but also gives a easy-t0-understand background to the mess both the United States and Iran have gotten into concerning the relationship between the two countries.
If you sometimes scratch you head wondering what is going on in the Middle East, this book will help you understand.
If you sometimes scratch you head wondering what is going on in the Middle East, this book will help you understand.
June 12, 2019
The horror in this story about an Iranian-American who is imprisoned on a visit home to her mother in Iran is not so much in what happens as in what is threatened. To be trapped within a system that has no external checks and balances (except, perhaps, for worldwide public opinion) is to be at the mercy of individuals and a system that doesn't care how it grinds down a grandmother-aged woman. Reading it was yet another reminder to me of how unusual and precious our own secular government and system of Justice are, however imperfect they may be.
January 6, 2019
Amazing story and packed with history of Iran, especially as it relates to the US. There were points in the book when it became a bit tedious, although I'm glad to have learned as much as I did. It's not exactly a page-turner, but an interesting story about a very smart, strong woman. Glad I read it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand our relationship with Iran and Iraq a little better.
June 23, 2017
Haleh Esfandiari's story is a political nightmare. Dual citizenship and still locked up. Rumors, innuendos, tangent lines; and the necessity to disprove a negative. Impossible. Obviously ended well but the journey is worth the read. In today's political climate I could forecast this storm within our borders.
May 31, 2017
This book was o.k. I generally enjoy memoirs, but this one just didn't really do it for me. I found Haleh's personal story and family history very interesting, but there were chapters interspersed with nonfictional sections that were pretty dry. While it was informative to the plot and what happened to Haleh, it wasn't compulsively readable. I learned a lot about US and Iranian relations over the years and the history with more recent presidents. I learned about how Iran and the US became enemies which was largely caused by actions taken by both sides in the past. Haleh was born in Iran and married to a Jewish man. They moved to the US after difficulties encountered in Iran after the Shah was deposed. The story is pretty sympathetic to the Shah which I found personally interesting. I also learned that Iraqis do not identify themselves as Arab; they are Persian. I wasn't aware of the ethnic difference either.
March 1, 2018
An amazing story of a woman in her sixties being imprisoned in her native country for arranging conferences etc back in USA on the Middle East. I admire her stance but this book was just a little too political for me with huge chapters on the political history between Iran and USA.
January 3, 2020
Finally got around to this book. After having worked with Haleh a number of years ago, I am ever more honored to know her now that I have the fuller story of her ordeal. I suppose I expected nothing less than the firm yet quiet resolve depicted here.
June 7, 2017
Extremely difficult to understand.
Excellent but truly scary. Too many names and Individuals to keep straight in trying to read. Highly recommended for all
Excellent but truly scary. Too many names and Individuals to keep straight in trying to read. Highly recommended for all
September 30, 2020
A little dry, but an informative read if you're interested in modern political history, Iranian culture, or Middle Eastern women's issues.
November 20, 2017
My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran (Hardcover)
by Haleh Esfandiari
by Haleh Esfandiari
Currently reading
November 25, 2009LOCKED UP
Nikki Keddie
Review of My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran
By Haleh Esfandiari
Ecco Books
Esfandiari's profoundly moving memoir goes beyond the limited story suggested in its subtitle to interweave a vivid autobiography and a brief history of Iran before and after the 1978–79 revolution. Potential readers should not be put off by fear of a depressing tale of horror; this is, above all, a story of faith—in the human capacity to withstand mistreatment and in what people working together against tyranny can accomplish.
Born to a prominent Iranian agronomist and his Austrian wife, Esfandiari grew up in relative privilege. She attended college in Vienna and took a job at a liberal Tehran newspaper. But when the Shah imposed a new editor, she left her position as a reporter to work for the Women’s Organization of Iran. During the revolution that tore the country apart, her family fled Iran, and she eventually became director of the Middle East program at Washington, D.C.’s Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where she convened discussions on Iran and the Middle East. She also wrote the well received 1997 book Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
Even after Esfandiari’s father died, her mother stayed on in Tehran. It was during a December 2006 visit to her then-93-year-old “Mutti” that Esfandiari was mysteriously robbed of her passports. Refused exit from Iran, she was subjected to months of grueling, daily interrogations about her supposed plotting with the Wilson Center to overthrow Iran’s government. She was ultimately confined at the notorious Evin prison, where the interminable questioning continued. Her interrogators, basing their actions on U.S. acts hostile to Iran and on conspiratorial fantasies, insisted that the Center, which receives congressional funding, was planning a “velvet” revolution of the sort that overthrew Soviet-style governments in the independent countries of the former USSR.
Determined not to say anything that would falsely implicate herself or the Wilson Center in subversion against the Iranian government and unaware of the international campaign for her freedom, the 67-year-old Esfandiari sustained herself with a strict routine of exercise and reading. Her eight-month ordeal, including 105 days in solitary confinement, ended largely because of a major international campaign for her freedom, including interventions by human rights organizations and U.S. presidential candidates, and culminating in a personal letter from Wilson Center director Lee Hamilton to Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei.
The ranks of Iran’s political prisoners— some tortured, raped, even killed—continue to grow, but Esfandiari retains hope in the ability of Iranians, in time, to change their government and society. Like Hamilton, she favors dialogue and negotiation and sees U.S. support for subversive activities as counterproductive. The recent huge demonstrations in favor of honest government, sparked by women, reinforce her analysis. Iran’s rulers say they will talk with the U.S. on some issues. We should, as Esfandiari suggests, consider even dialogue that provides only an opening wedge to improvements in human rights, women’s rights and the nuclear issue. President Obama’s willingness to talk with Iran is in line with the lessons of Esfandiari’s outstanding book.
---
NIKKI KEDDIE, PH.D., is professor emerita of Iranian and Middle Eastern history at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Nikki Keddie
Review of My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran
By Haleh Esfandiari
Ecco Books
Esfandiari's profoundly moving memoir goes beyond the limited story suggested in its subtitle to interweave a vivid autobiography and a brief history of Iran before and after the 1978–79 revolution. Potential readers should not be put off by fear of a depressing tale of horror; this is, above all, a story of faith—in the human capacity to withstand mistreatment and in what people working together against tyranny can accomplish.
Born to a prominent Iranian agronomist and his Austrian wife, Esfandiari grew up in relative privilege. She attended college in Vienna and took a job at a liberal Tehran newspaper. But when the Shah imposed a new editor, she left her position as a reporter to work for the Women’s Organization of Iran. During the revolution that tore the country apart, her family fled Iran, and she eventually became director of the Middle East program at Washington, D.C.’s Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where she convened discussions on Iran and the Middle East. She also wrote the well received 1997 book Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
Even after Esfandiari’s father died, her mother stayed on in Tehran. It was during a December 2006 visit to her then-93-year-old “Mutti” that Esfandiari was mysteriously robbed of her passports. Refused exit from Iran, she was subjected to months of grueling, daily interrogations about her supposed plotting with the Wilson Center to overthrow Iran’s government. She was ultimately confined at the notorious Evin prison, where the interminable questioning continued. Her interrogators, basing their actions on U.S. acts hostile to Iran and on conspiratorial fantasies, insisted that the Center, which receives congressional funding, was planning a “velvet” revolution of the sort that overthrew Soviet-style governments in the independent countries of the former USSR.
Determined not to say anything that would falsely implicate herself or the Wilson Center in subversion against the Iranian government and unaware of the international campaign for her freedom, the 67-year-old Esfandiari sustained herself with a strict routine of exercise and reading. Her eight-month ordeal, including 105 days in solitary confinement, ended largely because of a major international campaign for her freedom, including interventions by human rights organizations and U.S. presidential candidates, and culminating in a personal letter from Wilson Center director Lee Hamilton to Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei.
The ranks of Iran’s political prisoners— some tortured, raped, even killed—continue to grow, but Esfandiari retains hope in the ability of Iranians, in time, to change their government and society. Like Hamilton, she favors dialogue and negotiation and sees U.S. support for subversive activities as counterproductive. The recent huge demonstrations in favor of honest government, sparked by women, reinforce her analysis. Iran’s rulers say they will talk with the U.S. on some issues. We should, as Esfandiari suggests, consider even dialogue that provides only an opening wedge to improvements in human rights, women’s rights and the nuclear issue. President Obama’s willingness to talk with Iran is in line with the lessons of Esfandiari’s outstanding book.
---
NIKKI KEDDIE, PH.D., is professor emerita of Iranian and Middle Eastern history at the University of California, Los Angeles.
February 15, 2016
Visiting her mother over the Christmas holidays of 2006, Iranian-American intellectual Haleh Esfandiari was subjected to a staged robbery at knifepoint, months of harassment from the Intelligence Ministry while waiting for a new passport, and eventual imprisonment and interrogation for more than one hundred days.
Her chief interrogator, a constantly smirking individual named Ja'fari, alleges that through her work as director of the Woodrow Wilson Centre's Middle East Program she is part of a concerted attempt from America to bring about a "velvet revolution" in Iran.
Using an interrogation technique known as takhliyyeh-ye ettela'at, which means emptying of information, 'he imagined that if he piled up enough information and stitched it together in charts and timelines, he could finally figure out America's plan for overthrowing the Islamic Republic.',/i>
In the grand scheme of political persecutions, Esfandiari's experience, though frightening in itself, particularly for a sixty-sseven year old woman, can hardly be considered as horrific. (In contrast, at one point she mentions reading Solzhenitysn's The Gulag Archipelago, a truly horrendous ordeal.)
It's hard to escape the conclusion that she owes her comparatively light treatment and early release without trial down to the fact she was very well connected in Washington, with a similarly well connected husband to fight her cause in the Western media.
The number of famous and influential politicians who support her cause for release are too many to list but include Nobel prize winning lawyer Shirin Ebadi, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, and then senators Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
I dread to think just how many others were and are not quite so fortunate. Esfandiari herself rightly points this out near the end of her account.
Supplemented by a brief memoir of her upbringing in Iran and a summary of Iranian history and changing relations since America since WWII, My Prison, My Home is both a brave personal story and an interesting insight into the author's homeland.
Her writing is terse and unsentimental, eschewing any overt emotional embellishments, instead allowing her story to speak for her. I have read similar memoirs which were more eloquent, but few as direct.
Esfandiari clearly loves the country of her birth, but she clearly loves her adopted country too. She doesn't stress the point in this book, but she is certainly a supporter of reform in Iran geared towards creating a broader democracy along Western lines.
In this way, alongside her previous work working for female equality and her marriage to a Jew, you have to concede that she really was an enemy of the Islamic Republic according to its hardline conception under the presidency of Ahmadinejad, who came to power the year before she was arrested.
Also, the claims of the Intelligence Ministry that America was actively attempting a "velvet revolution" in Iran are equally true. Of course they were and are, constantly.
But the fact that an individual - a patriot too, who uses her role at the Wilson Center to positively promote her homeland, albeit a different vision of it than Ahmadinejad's - can be abused and arrested like this clearly reflected badly on the regime.
Praise God that Haleh Esfandiari was released unharmed.
Her chief interrogator, a constantly smirking individual named Ja'fari, alleges that through her work as director of the Woodrow Wilson Centre's Middle East Program she is part of a concerted attempt from America to bring about a "velvet revolution" in Iran.
Using an interrogation technique known as takhliyyeh-ye ettela'at, which means emptying of information, 'he imagined that if he piled up enough information and stitched it together in charts and timelines, he could finally figure out America's plan for overthrowing the Islamic Republic.',/i>
In the grand scheme of political persecutions, Esfandiari's experience, though frightening in itself, particularly for a sixty-sseven year old woman, can hardly be considered as horrific. (In contrast, at one point she mentions reading Solzhenitysn's The Gulag Archipelago, a truly horrendous ordeal.)
It's hard to escape the conclusion that she owes her comparatively light treatment and early release without trial down to the fact she was very well connected in Washington, with a similarly well connected husband to fight her cause in the Western media.
The number of famous and influential politicians who support her cause for release are too many to list but include Nobel prize winning lawyer Shirin Ebadi, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, and then senators Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
I dread to think just how many others were and are not quite so fortunate. Esfandiari herself rightly points this out near the end of her account.
Supplemented by a brief memoir of her upbringing in Iran and a summary of Iranian history and changing relations since America since WWII, My Prison, My Home is both a brave personal story and an interesting insight into the author's homeland.
Her writing is terse and unsentimental, eschewing any overt emotional embellishments, instead allowing her story to speak for her. I have read similar memoirs which were more eloquent, but few as direct.
Esfandiari clearly loves the country of her birth, but she clearly loves her adopted country too. She doesn't stress the point in this book, but she is certainly a supporter of reform in Iran geared towards creating a broader democracy along Western lines.
In this way, alongside her previous work working for female equality and her marriage to a Jew, you have to concede that she really was an enemy of the Islamic Republic according to its hardline conception under the presidency of Ahmadinejad, who came to power the year before she was arrested.
Also, the claims of the Intelligence Ministry that America was actively attempting a "velvet revolution" in Iran are equally true. Of course they were and are, constantly.
But the fact that an individual - a patriot too, who uses her role at the Wilson Center to positively promote her homeland, albeit a different vision of it than Ahmadinejad's - can be abused and arrested like this clearly reflected badly on the regime.
Praise God that Haleh Esfandiari was released unharmed.
February 13, 2024
I was really excited to read this book but in the end felt just let down and a little bit annoyed by the author, to be honest.
While the title "One Woman's Story..." indicates a personal discussion of her experiences with imprisonment in Iran, this book clearly also had big academic ambitions. While it is perfectly fine to talk about the history and socio-political aspects in a memoir, I found the stiff academic tone quite disrupting for a personal narrative. While the author could have saved that with the parts of the book about her own experiences, that did not happen. The whole account lacks vulnerability of the author. Instead of writing about feelings or memories, Esfandiari rather just quotes E-mails she wrote to her family during the time.
Another thing that really bugged me was the complete ignorance of the author towards her own privilege in the book. I do not want to discredit Esfandiari's experiences since they were obviously traumatic and she has a right to speak up about them. Anyway, the author grew up under better circumstances than normal Iranians and was able to get a education, had the financial ability to flee the country, and got an academic position in different American Institutions. During her prison sentence in solitary, which was of course terrible, she still lived under better conditions than most political female prisoners in Iranian Prisons, especially in Evin Prison. While I do not want to criticize the author for the privilege she has, I do criticize her for not acknowledging these privileges and the fact that women who do not have international connections die in this prison without their families ever knowing anything about what happened to them. Other than the picture the author paints, academics and journalists are by far not the only prosecuted people in Iran.
I do think that this book draws on important topics and that we need to speak more about female incarceration in Iran. However, this book would never be one that I would recommend to learn about this topic. For other readers tho whose expectations this book did not live up to, I would greatly recommend Prisoner of Tehran.
While the title "One Woman's Story..." indicates a personal discussion of her experiences with imprisonment in Iran, this book clearly also had big academic ambitions. While it is perfectly fine to talk about the history and socio-political aspects in a memoir, I found the stiff academic tone quite disrupting for a personal narrative. While the author could have saved that with the parts of the book about her own experiences, that did not happen. The whole account lacks vulnerability of the author. Instead of writing about feelings or memories, Esfandiari rather just quotes E-mails she wrote to her family during the time.
Another thing that really bugged me was the complete ignorance of the author towards her own privilege in the book. I do not want to discredit Esfandiari's experiences since they were obviously traumatic and she has a right to speak up about them. Anyway, the author grew up under better circumstances than normal Iranians and was able to get a education, had the financial ability to flee the country, and got an academic position in different American Institutions. During her prison sentence in solitary, which was of course terrible, she still lived under better conditions than most political female prisoners in Iranian Prisons, especially in Evin Prison. While I do not want to criticize the author for the privilege she has, I do criticize her for not acknowledging these privileges and the fact that women who do not have international connections die in this prison without their families ever knowing anything about what happened to them. Other than the picture the author paints, academics and journalists are by far not the only prosecuted people in Iran.
I do think that this book draws on important topics and that we need to speak more about female incarceration in Iran. However, this book would never be one that I would recommend to learn about this topic. For other readers tho whose expectations this book did not live up to, I would greatly recommend Prisoner of Tehran.
January 28, 2010
I really enjoyed reading this book. I am actually considering assigning parts of it to my students; Mrs. Esfandiari has managed to convey the rather complicated and complex history of American Iranian relations in a concise, informative and engaging manner. These historical sections are interspersed in her story -- from the initial robbery of her travel documents, to her interrogations, her eventual arrest and incarceration in Evin Prison, and finally her release. She did not spare in details and emotions, her doubts and fears are so vividly described, that I felt as if I were suffering these humiliations at her side. There is nevertheless so much love and pride in her country, its history and people in her writing. And it felt as if I came to know her family through her recollection of them as well -- especially her relationship with her Mutti. A wonderful book.
July 1, 2011
Haleh Esfandiari had many resources going for her that the majority of women in Iran do not. Her education, her partial European heritage, her incredibly strong role models, her family's relatively high social status and the support of a large, intelligent and well-connected academic community rallied round her enough to allow her to endure her ordeals. Still, her description of what she had to do to survive the interrogations, the restrictions, the eventual imprisonment that came following a short visit to her mother, are far beyond what many of us could muster.
This is a book of great faith and endurance written by a remarkable woman of beauty and courage. I hope she continues her dialogue and work on behalf of all women whose lives are still those of prisoners within their homes today.
This is a book of great faith and endurance written by a remarkable woman of beauty and courage. I hope she continues her dialogue and work on behalf of all women whose lives are still those of prisoners within their homes today.
January 27, 2016
Reading this memoir, I could hear the author's voice in my head simply telling me her story. As she shares her own life experiences leading up to her 8-month detainment in Iran, she seamlessly weaves in historical context, explaining the socio-political climates in Iran over the last three decades. This was particularly notable for me specifically because it never sounded like a history lesson, and it was consistently accessible for those of us who are not as politically saavy or worldly as others may be. Haleh Esfandiari's story is harrowing and terrifying, and yet her tone never comes off as melodramatic or self-serving. Simply put, this is a quality book for its perspective on the political climate in contemporary Iran, but more importantly it's a must-read memoir for its portrayal of strength, survival and love for country.
April 5, 2022
A book that is incredibly difficult to read. Not because of the prose, but the subject matter. If Esfandiari’s story was sold as fiction, people might call it far-fetched. A professor/journalist gets her documents stolen by the secret police of her homeland while she’s visiting her ailing mother, because they suspect she’s plotting something nefarious. Yeah, that’s a bit much, tone it down. Yet it happened to this woman.
She was kept basically in solitary for months on end, cut off from the world, and she survived. Esfandiari retells her story in a very matter-of-fact way, only letting her terror show occasionally. It’s this sense that the horror happening on the page (in real life) is completely normal, that terrifies you. How could this be real? It feels like a thriller. A book most definitely worth reading.
She was kept basically in solitary for months on end, cut off from the world, and she survived. Esfandiari retells her story in a very matter-of-fact way, only letting her terror show occasionally. It’s this sense that the horror happening on the page (in real life) is completely normal, that terrifies you. How could this be real? It feels like a thriller. A book most definitely worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews