A century of family tales from two beloved but divided homelands, Iran and America Drawing on her remarkable personal history, NPR producer Davar Ardalan brings us the lives of three generations of women and their ordeals with love, rejection, and revolution. Her American grandmother's love affair with an Iranian physician took her from New York to Iran in 1931. Ardalan herself moved from San Francsico to rural Iran in 1964 with her Iranian American parents who barely spoke Farsi. After her parents' divorce, Ardalan joined her father in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he had gone to make a new life; however improbably, after high school, Ardalan decided to move back to an Islamic Iran. When she arrived, she discovered a world she hardly recognized, and one which demands a near-complete renunciation of the freedoms she experienced in the West. In time, she and her young family make the opposite migration and discover the difficulties, however paradoxical, inherent in living a free life in America.

The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in Iran. Now Ebadi tells her story of courage and defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family, and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she loves. For years the Islamic Republic tried to intimidate Ebadi, but after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose to power in 2005, the censorship and persecution intensified. The government wiretapped Ebadi’s phones, bugged her law firm, sent spies to follow her, harassed her colleagues, detained her daughter, and arrested her sister on trumped-up charges. It shut down her lectures, fired up mobs to attack her home, seized her offices, and nailed a death threat to her front door. Despite finding herself living under circumstances reminiscent of a spy novel, nothing could keep Ebadi from speaking out and standing up for human dignity. But it was not until she received a phone call from her distraught husband—and he made a shocking confession that would all but destroy her family—that she realized what the intelligence apparatus was capable of to silence its critics. The Iranian government would end up taking everything from Shirin Ebadi—her marriage, friends, and colleagues, her home, her legal career, even her Nobel Prize—but the one thing it could never steal was her spirit to fight for justice and a better future. This is the amazing, at times harrowing, simply astonishing story of a woman who would never give up, no matter the risks. Just as her words and deeds have inspired a nation, Until We Are Free will inspire you to find the courage to stand up for your beliefs. Praise for Until We Are Free “Ebadi recounts the cycle of sinister assaults she faced after she won the Nobel Prize in 2003. Her new memoir, written as a novel-like narrative, captures the precariousness of her situation and her determination to ‘stand firm.’”—The Washington Post “Powerful . . . Although [Ebadi’s] memoir underscores that a slow change will have to come from within Iran, it is also proof of the stunning effects of her nonviolent struggle on behalf of those who bravely, and at a very high cost, keep pushing for the most basic rights.”—The New York Times Book Review “Shirin Ebadi is quite simply the most vital voice for freedom and human rights in Iran.”—Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot “Shirin Ebadi writes of exile hauntingly and speaks of Iran, her homeland, as the poets do. Ebadi is unafraid of addressing the personal as well as the political and does both fiercely, with introspection and fire.”—Fatima Bhutto, author of The Shadow of the Crescent Moon “I would encourage all to read Dr. Shirin Ebadi’s memoir and to understand how her struggle for human rights continued after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. It is also fascinating to see how she has been affected positively and negatively by her Nobel Prize. This is a must read for all.”—Desmond Tutu “A revealing portrait of the state of political oppression in Iran . . . [Ebadi] is an inspiring figure, and her suspenseful, evocative story is unforgettable.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Ebadi’s courage and strength of character are evident throughout this engrossing text.”—Kirkus Reviews

Includes material on Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, the "October Surprise" controversy, and the Ayatollah Khomeini.

“Between Two Worlds is an extraordinary story of how an innocent young woman got caught up in the current of political events and met individuals whose stories vividly depict human rights violations in Iran.” — Shirin Ebadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Between Two World is the harrowing chronicle of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi’s imprisonment in Iran—as well as a penetrating look at Iran and its political tensions. Here for the first time is the full story of Saberi’s arrest and imprisonment, which drew international attention as a cause célèbre from Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and leaders across the globe.

Set during the turbulent time that resulted in the Iranian revolution, this memoir chronicles my life as the 6-foot tall, blue-eyed American bride of an infamous Iranian student activist. From braving a 14-year-old in a brand new military uniform pointing his recently issued AK 47 at my pregnant belly, to accidentally being appointed the "official" US delegate to the international conference of non-aligned countries, Pebbles in the Rice: My Life in Iran reveals, reports and remembers the sights, smells and nuances of Iran's people and culture during the turbulent time immediately prior to, and after, the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Pebbles in the Rice: My Life in Iran is the must-have, background color commentary companion that puts the current political situation in Iran in an understandable, personalized and compelling context. It answers the rhetorical question: Shouldn't we get to know a people before we bomb them? It is a first-person chronicle of the political and historical events at the center of the birth of modern Islamic fundamentalism that is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. From my first arrival in Tehran in 1978, when I was introduced to the power of Khomeini by a relative who would later join with other students and seize the U. S. Embassy, to braving the home invasion of the local militia who arrested my husband, my life in Iran was far from the mundane existence of an expat housewife. Returning to the U. S. in 1982 and narrowly escaping the capture, imprisonment and execution suffered by our friends and relations, Pebbles in the Rice: My Life in Iran chronicles the end of my marriage to my Iranian husband and his untimely death.

Previous edition: published as by Patricia L. Baker and Hilary Smith. 2009.

A gripping and inspirational story, My Iran takes us along the journey of a young Iranian-American woman's personal account of visiting her home country for the first time. Highlighting the difficulties of adjusting to cultural norms, shawndeez shares her experience of traveling all over Iran by plane, bus, car, and boat. Inviting young diaspora Iranians to engage with their homeland, My Iran pushes us all to explore the many beauties of Iran in a new light.