Two women are caught up in revolutions thirty years apart, but it is a third woman—the woman that connects them—that carries the scars of loss that time has not healed. Weaving together the past and the present, two storylines tell the life of Omid, the daughter of one revolutionary and the mother of another. In December of 1978, seventeen-year-old Omid is forced to flee Iran on the eve of the Islamic Revolution. Her mother, a Tehran University professor and outspoken anti-government activist, is part of the political wave that is working to overthrow the Pahlavi regime. Omid’s arrival in America is difficult. She is isolated by language and culture. She is also determined that her time in this country will be temporary, but that idea is cut short when she soon discovers that her mother has become a fugitive, pursued by the newly formed Revolutionary Guard because of her political views. Fast forward thirty years. Omid is living in Connecticut, the mother of two teenage daughters. Since the death of her own mother, she has buried the anguish and suffering that once struck her down. Her life is suddenly upended, though, when her older daughter, Sayeh, on a short trip to Iran, is arrested by Iranian authorities on false charges. Then, while being transferred to the notorious Evin Prison, Sayeh and a female Iranian student escape their captors with the help of an unruly crowd. Omid’s Shadow explores two periods of crisis in a woman’s life: as a seventeen-year-old struggling to cope long distance with her mother’s situation…and thirty years later, as a mother agonizing over the news of her daughter’s arrest, escape, and subsequent political activities. As Sayeh joins the pre-election activities of young revolutionaries fighting for rights they’ve been denied for more than three decades on streets of Tehran, the same spirit begins to stir in Omid. Omid realizes that she is losing her daughter to the revolutionary fever that once consumed her mother…the fever that was very much a part of her own existence as a seventeen-year-old, protesting on the streets of Iran. As she struggles with her fears for Sayeh, she also realizes that she is beginning to find her true self. The person buried for decades beneath the weight of lost hope has begun to emerge. Laced with the literary wisdom of Iran’s great poets, the novel draws on and illuminates a Middle Eastern culture that continues to fascinate readers. Omid’s Shadow, although fiction, draws on many actual events that occurred on Tehran’s streets after the election in June of 2009. Like the great tragedies of literature—from Romeo and Juliet to A Doll’s House to Ragtime to The Kite Runner—Omid’s Shadow takes us from the public politics of the street fight to the private power of the human heart. Hichkass Hamekass, No one Everyone, is the name of every Iranian woman who ever chose to say ‘No!’ to humiliation, ‘No!’ to injustice. It is the name of every courageous soul that has raised her voice against oppression. Their fight for civil, institutional, and human rights continues on, as it has for decades, despite the blood being shed on the streets and in the prisons. Hichkass Hamekass is the pen name for our mothers, our daughters, and our friends who will not give up the fight for freedom. Azadi! From Publishers Weekly This timely political novel features three generations of Iranian women who dare to stand up to repressive regimes. Scenes alternate between a worried mother in Connecticut and her naïve daughter who becomes a passionate reform activist and hunted fugitive in Tehran. In Connecticut, Omi sees her marriage crumbling and regrets telling her daughter about the family's fate at the hands of the Khomeini government and her own past as a student activist. The importance of social media to populist reform and revolutionary movements is demonstrated convincingly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you found Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi or Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi or The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini enthralling, you’ll want to check out this heart wrenching tale of a mother whose long dormant spirit of rebellion is reawakened at great cost. For fans of Maryam Rostampour, Barbara Freethy, Maria Troutman, Lauren Groff, Jodi Picoult, Sarah Echavarre, Kristin Hannah, Barbara Davis, Luanne Rice, Laura Dave, Diane Chamberlain, Ann Patchett, Kate Hewitt, Şebnem İşigüzel. Keywords – well-researched fast-paced gripping emotional read, emotional exciting page-turner, twisty action, pulse-pounding thrillers, smart sophisticated fast-moving suspense, believable love story, satisfying and complex fiction, strong female heroines and intense male leads, international thriller, fierce women seeking justice, mind blowing thought provoking suspense, great summer read, wounded heroine, female leads, rebel women fiction, heart-pounding fast-paced action, desperation, acts of revenge, redemption and revenge, books to keep you up all night, common threat, shared enemy, chilling villains, suspense books to read, mental health issues, national security threat fiction, generational women novel, tragedy suspense, refugees Europe, Iran war novels, Iran family saga, stories based on true, Iran fiction, Iran immigrant women, womens international suspense, star crossed lovers romance, womens fiction sisters, women revolution novel.

Why were urban women veiled in the early 1900s, unveiled from 1936 to 1979, and reveiled after the 1979 revolution? This question forms the basis of Hamideh Sedghi's original and unprecedented contribution to politics and Middle Eastern studies. Using primary and secondary sources, Sedghi offers new knowledge on women's agency in relation to state power. In this rigorous analysis she places contention over women at the centre of the political struggle between secular and religious forces and demonstrates that control over women's identities, sexuality, and labor has been central to the consolidation of state power. Sedghi links politics and culture with economics to present an integrated analysis of the private and public lives of different classes of women and their modes of resistance to state power.

A stunning debut novel set in post-revolutionary Iran that gives voice to the men, women, and children who won a war only to find their livesNand those of their descendantsNimperiled by its aftermath.

The 1979 revolution fundamentally altered Iran’s political landscape as a generation of inexperienced clerics who did not hail from the ranks of the upper class—and were not tainted by association with the old regime—came to power. The actions and intentions of these truculent new leaders and their lay allies caused major international concern. Meanwhile, Iran’s domestic and foreign policy and its nuclear program have loomed large in daily news coverage. Despite global consternation, however, our knowledge about Iran’s political elite remains skeletal. Nearly four decades after the clergy became the state elite par excellence, there has been no empirical study of the recruitment, composition, and circulation of the Iranian ruling members after 1979. Postrevolutionary Iran: A Political Handbook provides the most comprehensive collection of data on political life in postrevolutionary Iran, including coverage of 36 national elections, more than 400 legal and outlawed political organizations, and family ties among the elite. It provides biographical sketches of more than 2,300 political personalities ranging from cabinet ministers and parliament deputies to clerical, judicial, and military leaders, much of this information previously unavailable in English. Providing a cartography of the complex structure of power in postrevolutionary Iran, this volume offers a window not only into the immediate years before and after the Iranian Revolution but also into what has happened during the last four turbulent decades. This volume and the data it contains will be invaluable to policymakers, researchers, and scholars of the Middle East alike.

A summer in Aruba, on the beach, in the sun–what else could a girl want? Summer romance, of course! Imagine spending your entire summer vacation on the beautiful island of Aruba. Who could ask for anything more? Well, for Morgan Callahan, spending her entire summer in Aruba with the father, she hardly knows, is barely anything to look forward to. In fact, she is dreading the next few months. Nonetheless, she is in for the time of her life! From secret operatives to finding romance. Morgan is in for some international intrigue! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you enjoyed The Wish by Nicholas Sparks, you’ll want to try this romantic suspense novel set in Aruba. Action-packed, you’ll be enthralled by the tropical Caribbean setting. For fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Fern Michaels, Karen Kingsbury, Tessa Bailey, Emily Henry, Kat Martin, Laura Dave, Barbara Freethy, Laura Griffin, Karen Rose, Janey Crouch, Nora Roberts, Karen Robards, Susan Stoker, Heather Graham, Sharon Sala, Ann Rule, Jennifer Ruff, Erin Brockus. Keywords – well-researched fast-paced read, emotional exciting page-turner, twisty action, pulse-pounding romantic thrillers, off-the-charts chemistry, smart sophisticated fast-moving romantic suspense, believable love story, satisfying and complex mystery, strong female heroines and intense male leads, mind blowing thought provoking suspense, funny romantic suspense summer read, heart-pounding fast-paced action, forced proximity, ticking clock suspense, common threat, shared enemy, suspense books to read, books to keep you up all night, action, adventure; Aruba romance, teens drugs romance, kidnapping suspense, CIA fiction, teen kidnapping romance, young love outsider, Caribbean romance novels, island holiday romance, island vacation romantic suspense.

Burnett was one of the few Westerners to stay and document the sudden fall of the Shah of Iran in 1978. "44 Days" re-creates the coup that led to a long hostage crisis, President Jimmy Carter's political demise, and an enmity still blazing after 30 years.

'...her short analysis of the Iranian armed forces in the 1980s is first-rate, so too is her much more substantial section on women and the state in Iran...As well as offering useful insights into the workings of the Islamic state in Iran, this readable book also provides a warning of the struggles ahead in many other Muslim societies.' - Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Times Higher Education Supplement ;Islam has been the driving force shaping the ideology and the power base of the Iranian revolution. This volume engages critically with the Islamic perspective and promises offered by the revolution. Looking at the rise of the religious institution as a revolutionary force, the author observes their post-revolutionary policies in the domains of politics, economics, education, the armed forces and women's status. In the event, the volume demonstrates that the Iranian government has failed to deliver on most, if not all, of its Islamic pledges.