Things I've Been Silent About

November 10, 2008
Nafisi follows up the internationally acclaimed Reading Lolita in Tehran
with another memoir, concentrating this time on her unhappy family life. Her mother was vocally nostalgic for her first marriage to a man who died two years after their wedding day, while her father sought the company of other women—not so much for sexual excitement as for emotional stability. Nafisi's parents' relationship was so off-kilter that when her father, the mayor of Tehran, was accused of plotting against the shah and thrown into jail, one of his main hopes was that it would finally reconcile them. Nafisi grew up determined to “become the woman claimed she had wanted to be,” but an adolescent education in England and an impulsive first marriage (followed by college in the U.S.) did not bring the happiness she sought. The calm candor with which she narrates her experiences, from childhood sexual abuse to a frightening confrontation when her second husband argues with a religious zealot over her unscarved hair, provides a solid emotional anchor—and the intimate drama at her memoir's core, the conflicting frustration with a parent and the desire for connection, is one that will resonate with readers everywhere.

March 15, 2009
Nafisi ("Reading Lolita in Tehran") captures her memories of her mother and father in this story about growing up in the turbulent and politically charged atmosphere in Iran. Central to the book is Nafisi's mother, who adds details and eliminates facts to her life story as it suits her. This element of mistrust is the basis for Nafisi's dysfunctional relationship with this melodramatic woman, who is known for her local coffee sessions that eventually enable her to be elected to Parliament. By contrast, Nafisi's father, who was jailed for his political actions as deputy mayor of Tehran, loves to entertain Nafisi with his tales of the goodness of people even with all the injustice in the world. Her father also gives her the diaries he wrote for her since she was a four-year-old. Fantasy, in various forms, is the mechanism Nafisi's family employs to understand life. Watching Nafisi grow from a child to a mother and a writer shows how her family's story is really her own. Recommended for all public libraries where Nafisi is popular and for all academic collections.Joyce Sparrow, JWB Children's Svcs. Council, Clearwater, FL

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2008
Nafisis book about clandestine gatherings with other Iranian women to discuss works of Western literature, Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003), became an unlikely best-seller. In her new, equally compelling memoir, she affirms her belief in the power of literature and the need to speak the truth. Things Ive Been Silent About was the heading for a list Nafisi kept in her diary of painful subjects, primary among them her contentious relationship with her bitterly unhappy mother. Recognizing that her mothers story, and her own, are inextricably meshed with the history of Iran, Nafisi, with diligence and candor, breaks her silence about family traumas and offers a unique and clarifying perspective on Iranian life. Nafisis tenacious mother was one of the first women elected to Irans Parliament. Nafisis valiant father, whose passion for Persian literature ignited Nafisis own literary ardor, was mayor of Tehran under the Shah until he was wrongfully imprisoned in an infamous case of revenge politics. Nafisis dramatic and cathartic account of her difficult childhood, doomed first marriage, and political awakening glimmer with vivid and telling memories of Tehranfragrant and flourishing in her youth, grim and treacherous during the war with Iraq and under Khomeini. With high praise for insubordinate women and inspiring testimony to the liberation and wisdom found in literature, Nafisi celebrates individual expression and the polyphony of a democratic society.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)