The term good would not do justice to my opinions of this book. This is not to say that I agree with all of the author's opinions on all matters, but this well-written account of faith, suffering, and the price of totalitarianism is on the whole superb. Marina is thankfully a talented written and usully manages to keep even the more mundane aspects of growing up in Iran during the Shah's reign interesting. Essentially the story of her arrest, imprisonment, interrogation (with torture in at least one instance), near execution, and an essentially forced relationship with a guard is alternated with her childhood and experience of the 1979 Revolution. The interrogator Ali Moosavi is a fascinating character in the book. In some ways he is one of the most sinister characters but deep down he has numerous good qualities. Marina confesses that she very understandably still doesn't know how to feel for this man who combined ruthlessness with idealism. From one angle he cruelly convinced her to temporarily betray her Christian faith and slept with her against her will. On the other side he twice saved her life including the second time as his final actions on earth. He seemed to have the potential to change right at the moment when he himself became the victim of the regime he had once suffered and fought for
(he not only fought the Iraqis but had himself been tortured earlier by the Shah's men). Despite all the pain and suffering from totalitarianism and war, Nemat herself retains a dignified humility and care for other human beings and thankfully does have a relatively happy ending in the book by emmigrating to Canada with her husband and children. The book also features an interview with the author that is rather interesting. If there is one criticism of the book it is that I wish the author had focused more on the return to her Christian faith and how her experiences had worked to shape her beliefs. This is discussed some but I felt there may have been so much more which could have been contemplated here.

overall, i highly recommend the book.

P.S.
This work does bring up a number of issues. First of all Marina Nemat was faced with criticism from a number of former political prisoners about some details of the book. I can't of course know every single detail in the work was accurate; the author herself admits that time has obscurred some details. It is also worth mentioning that other former iranian political prisoners responded to the attacks by supporting Nemat.

on a larger scale the book should bring to mind three important realities.

1. Political oppression and torture still occurs in Iran though argueably not to the level as under Khomenini (less mass executions anyway).
2. Christian minorities (and other religious minorities) suffer oppression and persecution in vast swathes of the Middle East. This often violent persecution in of course not limited to iran but also includes U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia which is in truth even worse than the Iranians in some respects.
3. There are a surprising number of torture victims living in the West from a whole range of countries. Before writing the book, Nemat worked at a Swiss Chalet restaurant and was living a middle class Canadian life with her husband and children. In short, this reality should give us some pause about the possible experiences of others we may run into. Sometimes it is the most seemingly normal of people who have lived through the nightmare of totalitarianism (whether religious or atheistic or neither).

When it comes to books about life in post-Revolutionary Iran, I would say I'm hard to please. This is owing not so much to my innate snobbiness as to the fact that there's been a veritable avalanche of books by members of the Iranian diaspora -- especially women.

But this one I would recommend. True, Nemat's story is not terribly original: she grew up in a liberal family, was aghast at the atrocities of the Revolution, suspected by the government, thrown in Evin prison, etc. Now she's living free in the west and pining for her benighted Persian bretheren, etc.

But what sets Nemat's book apart is that she can write well. The book is intimate, well-written, and lucid. You really get to know her as a person, you understand exactly what is happening and why, and you really care how things turn out. (This is by way of comparison with gaseous, opaque scribblings such as Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran and In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs: A Memoir of Iran.)

So, a fine job. Admittedly it can't hold a candle to Satrapi's The Complete Persepolis, but nevertheless a welcome addition to the literature of the Persian diaspora.