This fascinating book was written by a female educator living in Iran right after the overturn of the Shah.  Azar Nafisi resigned a professorship at a prestigious university when she found she could no longer submit to the restrictions which hobbled her ability to teach.

Professor Nafisi selected seven young women to form a book club from which they read, and examined, English literature. The women in the club looked to her as a mentor and guide.  The women were different from each other but shared a common appreciation for the opportunity to study this literature.

The book is a history of how Iran changed and the impact it had, not only on women, but on men as well.  It was a cultural revolution.  Professor Nafisi and her students make it real.  As women, they are finding ways to circumvent and oppose the Revolutionary Committee and the religious teachers.  Their escape to Nafisi’s living room, and Lolita, is described as their “link to that other worlds of tenderness, brightness and beauty.” (Part 1, Chapter 17). It was their escape from the reality of an oppressive reality.

Please see the link to my Project…MEMOIR – MEMORY AND MASTERY PROJECT