Prisoner of Tehran - A Book Review

Prisoner of Tehran a memoir by Marina Nemat

I just finished reading this autobiography.

It is well written, in that the author, Marina Nemat, didn't put the horror or being a prisoner into everything she wrote. Throughout the book when the violence, or horrors became too much, she would swtich us to memories that led up to her arrest, and inprisonment at the Evin Prison.

She was only 16 when she was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death for political crimes. Up to then, her life was more of a typical teenagers life, school, summer parties at the lake, and her relationship with Andre, a young man she met at church.

Sentenced to death, but Ali, an interrogator, intervened just moments before her scheduled death. Ali was able to get her sentence reduced to life, although Marina did not think it was fair. Death would have been better than the torture of life

Ali then went to the front lines of the Iran war & didn't return for months. Once he did return, he dropped a surprise on Marina, he wanted to marry her, he couldn't get her off his mind, even being at the front. And if she didn't want to marry him, well her family may come to some harm.

Marina gave in and married Ali. If only to protect her family, but Ali was also able to get her life sentence reduced by having a new trial.

Meanwhile, Ali's family insisted that Marina convert to Islam. After being a Christain her entire life, this was very hard for her to do, but she had no other choice.  She felt that God wasn't there for her in many ways anyways.

Married, and trying to have a life together, Marina becomes pregnate. Unsure if she feels joy at this turn of events or not.

Then one evening as they were leaving Ali's parents home after dinner, Ali was shot down in murder. He did manage to push Marina to the ground, so she wasn't hurt, saving her life. Unfortunatly, she did lose the baby.

Freed from her forced marriage, Marina was now able to try & continue the life she once knew before being a political prisoner. Andre, her love, had waited for her. They were married and after her husband worked for the University for 3 years, they were able to emmigrat to Canada, where they live now with their 2 children.

The loose end I felt in this book was her religion, or faith. She never talked about it again after converting to Islam. SHe was married to Andre in the church, and she mentioned that it was risky, since the government was watching her and converting to Christianity was something that was not allowed, but she never addressed her own faith.

It was a good book, and it's one that I will keep and read again, but it's so annoying when I'm laying in bed, trying to fall asleep and all I can think about are loose ends in the book I just read.