The Lion Women of Tehran, Marjan Kamali, author; Mozhan Navabi, Nikki Massoud, narrators
This novel is largely about the treatment of women in Iran and the reaction of Iranian women, the world, and others to their plight, as conditions there changed. At the age of 10, Ellie and her mother were forced to move to a poorer neighborhood than the one they had been accustomed to, because Ellie’s father had died. They were helpless, since they were dependent on his brother for their safety and well-being. Although her uncle was obligated to take care of them, he refused to allow them to stay in their expensive home unless her mother married him. Her mother refused.
In her new school, Ellie met Homa, a child from a more modest background. Her mother did not approve of their friendship, believing that Ellie was superior to Homa because of her ancestry. However, they became fast, best friends and soon decided that they would both become lion women, women who were indestructible, courageous, and strong. When, after a time, Ellie’s mother changed her mind and married her husband’s brother, allowing them to move back to an upscale community, Ellie and Homa’s relationship suffered from the separation. They didn’t meet again until Homa attended the same school as Ellie, on scholarship. Homa was hoping to become a lawyer, She had become an activist and was a Communist like her father. She objected to the Shah’s rule. She seemed more sophisticated than Ellie who had been raised with superstition and was sheltered by her mother.
Unfortunately, while at a party, Ellie’s friend’s husband questioned her about her life, her politics, her friends and their activities. He made her feel that he was truly interested in her situation and that he approved of her activism. She thought of him as a father figure, since he was older, and she missed her own father who had died. This man was not innocently probing her about her life; he was a spy and was actually working for the government. Because of the things that Ellie revealed, her friend Homa was arrested and violated in prison. When she was released, she married Abdol and delivered a daughter, Bahar. She cut Ellie off and ended their relationship. How did prison change Homa’s path in life? What tragedies followed her?
Ellie married, and she and her husband moved to New York City where he worked as a scientist. Out of the blue, several years later, Homa called Ellie. She explained that the situation in Iran was growing much worse and she asked for a favor. The Shah had been overthrown and the theocracy was fast becoming a reality. It was not the government that the revolutionaries had hoped for, and Homa asked Ellie if she could send her daughter to America to finish her education, and hopefully, also to go to college there. Will Ellie comply with her old friend’s request? She and her husband are childless. As the time passed, secrets were revealed that challenged Ellie’s beliefs. How did she handle the new knowledge and information? This novel is a story that begins in the 1950’s and ends in 2022. It follows the lives of Ellie and Homa into the future and contrasts the life in America with the life in Iran. Tragedies take place and the reader witnesses how the characters deal with them. War is inevitable. Friendships are challenged. Loyalties are questioned. Inadvertently, innocence and/or ignorance, lead to betrayals and injury.
As the book develops further, the reader will experience the confusion of the immigrant in a new environment, with a new language and a new lifestyle to manage. The book will illustrate the deterioration of the situation in Iran, the revolution and the wars, and the never-ending efforts of the “lion women” to bring about positive change in a country that is fast becoming a radical theocracy with abusive laws to control women and allow men to act freely. Will these lions one day be successful in their quest for equal rights and a life of human dignity? It will be a journey that will not be easy.
There are some light moments in the book. like when it highlights tv diners and frozen fish sticks. I happily learned that Bloomingdales was the first to introduce frozen yoghurt. There are both heartwarming and heartbreaking moments in the book and because I grew up in the same general time as Elaheh (Ellie), I can attest to the authenticity of the character’s experiences, from the frankfurter stands to the scent of Bloomingdale’s, from the interference of the United States government into the affairs and government of Iran and the Shah, to the rise of the radical Theocracy now in place, and to so much more. This book will break your heart as it enlightens you to the plight of the women in Iran and to the accepted cruelty of the men in charge. Perhaps, it will also make you wonder how American women, pretending to be so interested in human, civil, and women’s rights, can be so silent on the issues facing the women in Iran. Is it simply a belief in the left-wing politics, that seems to be pro-Iran, that prevents these women from being “lions” and vocally objecting to the suffering of these women? Perhaps, after reading this book, if truly interested in furthering the cause of women’s rights, they will find the “lion” in themselves and offer more support to the abused women in Iran and in all extremist countries. While the novel delicately exposes the horrific treatment of women and the growing desperation they feel in Iran, because of the lifestyle they are forced to endure, sadly, it offers no solutions. It does highlight the strength of those women, the “lions” who fought and still fight the system, even in the face of the grave danger threatening them when they protest their government and their abusive treatment. The “lions” want reform and are fighting for it in any way they can. I believe that women in America should be actively supporting them. What do you believe?