The Lion Women of Tehran
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
Reviewed by bookstore founder and owner herself, Isabella 🌞
“The quiet days following Christmas lend themselves well to a completely immersive read. Time to read an entire book in just a few days, the pinnacle of luxury. With that comes, as we all know, the pressure of finding the right book!
My choice this Christmas turned out to be a book that has had me up at night, feeling emotional, nostalgic, fearful, and hopeful all at once.
The Lion Women of Tehran is the story of two young girls from different parts of Iranian society, their friendship and struggles through the turbulent history of Iran from 1950 to today.
The fight for women’s rights, culturally and politically, is at the center of this easily read historical novel full of betrayal, redemption, and with a cast of carefully woven characters, including the city of Tehran itself, that all play important roles in charting the dramatic paths drawn by the revolution.
I left Iran as a 10 year old girl just before the revolution of 1979, so my memories of the country (and city of Tehran) are frozen in time full of longing and nostalgia, and, years later, also full of questions about the life we lived, the society we lived in, and the atrocities committed under the Shah, and since under the Islamic Republic. So the book hit home in many ways, especially through its use of Persian words and phrases sprinkled throughout.
But Iran and Iranians are so much more than their politics. They are warm, funny, passionate (dramatic:) people who serve amazing food, and create beautiful art set against the backdrop of a 3000 year old history.
Iranian women are fierce - fiercely loyal and fiercely loving - and not to be messed with. This truth is not only at the heart of ‘The Lion Women of Tehran’, but also visible every single day, through the incredibly brave actions of women on the streets and in the prisons of Iran.
The recent fall of the Syrian regime left more than a few Iranians thinking ‘If only that could happen in Iran’ after almost 50 years of fundamentalist rule. The fate of Syria is still unclear, but at least they now have real hope.
Here’s to a 2025 with real hope for Iran 🇮🇷”